Into the Darkness
by xisinj64
Summary: A human boy grows up among a world that is alien to his kind. As he grows, he expiriences bonds of friendship made and unmade, expiriences joy, hurt and betrayel, all to serve a greater good, a purpose that takes him down a dark and sinistar path of life.
1. Prologue, Reference Chapter

**Into the Darkness.**

**Prologue, galactic backstory, character info.**

**This is was my first story, also the first of a series. It is a combination of different Sci-fi genres and features references, occurrences and characters either relevant to or an OC to the genre area.**

**I drew inspiration from different genres, as Sci-fi is a brilliant, albeit tragically underrated genre in fiction. One example, while many read the Twilight series, I read Arthur C. Clarke. However, this series draws inspiration from many more recent Sci-fi genres. If you wish to picture this series fully, it helps to have a sprinkling of knowledge of these universes that I have tried to meld together.**

**Worlds/Species.**

**Humans: I pictured the events in the Star Trek universe as being delayed in their dated events. I figured that the event of James Cameron's avatar, and humanity's greed, would be a more likely scenario to attract the attention of the Vulcans.**

**Major events: After being kicked off Pandora, the humans tried to take back the moon with an interstellar invasion, which the Na'vi fought off with many costs on both sides. The Vulcans intervened at this point, taking note of the intelligence of both races, but were alerted first by the interstellar travel, albeit at sublight speeds, of the humans. Teachings and uplifting of varying degrees occurred between the three races, and all three attained relatively equal technological status within 100 years, the Na'vi having to adapt more quickly.**

**Then the events of the general Star trek universe kick off, with the Klingons beig fully seen, and the Romulans, a break off group of Vulcans. Also, the meeting of other galactic races.**

**Appearance: Roughly 6 foot on average for males, only slightly shorter for females. Lifespan of roughly 150 years or so with current medical tech, immortality is possible, but highly expensive and risky, as is with all organic races. Very varying in appearance, drastic differences in hair colour, skin colour, eye colour. Are omnivores.**

**Culture: Very mixed, an incorporation of differing Earth origin cultures. In the colonized systems, one sees concentrations of different groups, e.g. a mainly distant Chinese descent, or German descent group. This is due to cultural gatherings. Religion is still practiced, though anti-science protests still continue in some areas, is not as wide spread as in the 12th to early 21st centuries.**

**Nature: Ambitious, are social people, but not as tightly knit as other races, more independent. Ambition has led to relatively rapid galactic expansion, making humans one of the more numerous races. Intelligent, but emotions can compromise actions on occasions.**

**Homeworld: Earth, Sol system.**

**Na'vi: James Cameron's greatest creation in my opinion. Have been uplifted thanks to human influence, though humans were humbled by Vulcans prior. After the RDA retaliated, the Na'vi fought back fiercely. As such, the Na'vi still hold somewhat of a mistrust of humans, though this is more prominent on the homeworld of Pandora. The homeworld is a designated nature reserve, as the unique biological network prompted the humans to help the Na'vi set up their capital of the Na'vi influence in the galaxy on the neighbouring moon of Keletari.**

**Appearance: Tall, lanky build, on average 10 feet tall, average life expectancy of 140 years, slightly shorter than humans. Blue skin, of varying shades, with vague pale stripes on the body. Long, thin tail, and a queue, containing a neurological bundle, capable of connecting with the planetwide super-organism network intelligence, known as Eywa. Have appearance basically similar to humans, but face shows more feline appearance, backed up by elongated canine teeth. Noses are flatter than other races, and the eyes are proportionally further apart. Hands and feet only have four digits each. Are omnivores.**

**Culture: Due to rapid uplifting, some tribal customs and natures have been retained. The needs of others still are held high among Na'vi, even non-Pandora born Na'vi. Revolves around Eywa, a physical goddess, off-world Na'vi make their way back to Pandora at least once per two decades on average, as mental depression can set in from lack of contact with the 'Eywa' network, as I call it. The Na'vi have proven adept at creating much contribution to both the symphonic and performing arts, adding credit to them along with philosophical prowess.**

**Nature: More placid, content race. Not as aggressive in expansion, just enough to make an impression. Peace seekers, but are capable warriors when given good enough reason. When outgoing, the Na'vi are cautious, but peaceful. The main instance of aggression is in defence.**

**Homeworld: Pandora, Alpha Centuari [note, Na'vi influence capital actually nearby moon, Keletari. Pandora limited to a few, concentrated colonies for preservation of unique nature].**

**Cybertronians: Michael Bay's versions. Most varied in appearance among galactic races. Oldest race by far, and only non-organic race. Remnants of a long dead civilization technology AI is likely roots of the Cybertronian race, though records do not date back to then, or have been lost. Peaceful, until civil started initially 18000 years ago under the Fallen's rebellion on Earth over using a Sun Harvester on in a system with life. After a few millennia, Lord High protector Megatron found the Fallen in stasis, and came under his influence, prompting a second, more fierce civil war over control of Cybertron and the Allspark. The Allspark was eventually launched away, only to land on earth 11000 years ago. In the late 20th century, the Ark crashed on the moon, and Sentinel prime went into stasis, protecting the pillars for the space bridge. In the early 21st century, the autobots and decepticons found the allspark, and with human help, the decepticons suffered heavy casualties, including Megatron.**

**Within 2 years, and allspark fragment was used to revive Megatron, and a battle with the Fallen's guidance occurred over the same Sun Harvester that was landed on Earth 18000 years before. In the battle, the Fallen was killed, and the decepticons fled into hiding on Earth, the Nemesis craft having retreated into hiding on one of Saturn's smaller moons. 2 years later, Sentienl prime was revived, only to side with Megatron to carry out a deal made before he fled in the Ark, to ship Cybertron to Earth and use the humans as slaves to help rebuild it. After a devastating battle in Chicago, an old human city, Cybertron was consumed when the Space bridge collapsed in on itself. Also, Sentinel Prime, Megatron and many other decepticons lost their lives.**

**After the final fight, it seemed the Cybertronians were at an impasse. Optimus sent out scouts to search for a new world to rebuild their race on, and with the reconstruction of the Allspark not set to finish for a century, he made the tough choice to revive many fallen decepticons for the sake of increasing the chances of their race surviving, though Sentinel Prime and Megatron would certainly stay dead. By 2053, the Autobots and revived Decepticons left Earth, thanking the humans for sheltering them, making their way to a rogue, wandering planet they had located far away, though only 800 light years away. For the next 400 years, they would rebuild their society and civilization, until they finally were ready to reintroduce themselves. They were the last race to integrate before the United Interstellar Powers was formed.**

**Appearance: Very varied. Smallest recorded was the size of a earth insect 'mosquito', while the largest recorded was shared by Omega Supreme and Trypticon, from the civil war, at roughly 400 feet tall. Transformations varied too, some cases include regular two formed, triple changers, combiners, or mixes of different kinds. Underneath armour or plating is the vital circuits, or the protoform shell. Before an alt form is scanned, these are their default appearance. Specialized element and compound shifting material changes to help disguise the mech or femme to the form[s] chosen. The form is limited by the size and mass of the mech or femme in question.**

**Unlike organics, outward appearance can be readily changed on a whim, including optic, armour colour or voice, though many maintain the features they were sparked with for sake of identity. Mechs and femmes differ, with mechs being larger, but femmes being smaller and faster. Mech's are generally more angular in armour, whilst femmes show more curves, often politely attributed to the need for smooth surfaces to move quickly. Diet consists of energon, which ca be converted from fuels of civilized society, cush as Algae or mined hydrocarbons, or hydrogen.**

**Culture: Too varied for accuracy, as no predominant traits appear in this species. The non-organic origins of Cybertronians naturally seperates them culturally, not in a negative sense, more one of they would not fully understand, and they accept it.**

**Nature: Nature is dependant on the role they are base programmed to be more adapted to. A soldier will be strong willed, whilst a politician will be tactical, but peace seeking.**

**Homeworld: New Cybertron [commonly known as Cybertron], no system, is a rogue planet.**

**Predators: Aliens/Predator type: A warrior race, one of the older races. Engaged in temporary god status amongst primitive civilizations, including earth, taking part in games that if they lost, they removed all evidence of their existence. However, in the 2400s they came out of hiding, and revealed their history at the prompting of other races. Having paid reparations to hunting game exploited races, such as humans, they became a valuable military ally in what would become the UIP.**

**Appearance: Reptiles, but with Mammalian features, including warm blood. Mandible mouths, four parted, and relatively small eyes most distinguishing features. Sensory 'dreadlocks' found on all Predators, and are encased in a protective, but sensory transmitting layer, bundling the sensor 'hairs' into thicker dreadlocks. Have four digits on the hands and feet, with short, but moderately sharp claws. Are omnivores.**

**Greys:** **Based strongly off most commonly reported UFO species, aka 'little men with big heads and big eyes.' For physical equivalent, watch Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's new film: Paul.**

**Like the Predators, they revealed themselves in the 2400s, and had to pay only slight reparations for experimentation on humans when they were alerted to radio broadcasts. From Earth in the late 18th century. Among the UIP they are technologically and intellectually the most superior in the organics, though naturally cannot compete with Cybertronians.**

**Appearance: Small, usually 4 to 4.5 feet tall. Head are proportionally bigger than other races. Are mammals, but have no hair or fat, their skin adapted on a high radiation, cold homeworld to be not only protective agaist radiation, but well insulated for being so thin. Have 4 digits, long spindly fingers, but the feet have 5 digits, unusual among organic races to have different numbered digit counts on hands and feet. Can use hands as a transfer of knowledge and memories to another, physical body had been sacrificed naturally and genetically altered to enhance the mind's power.**

**Culture: Knowledge and science driven, religion has all but died. The greys are however very outgoing in studying other cultures, and are quick to adapt their behaviour to blend in. Many great engineers and scientists have been from the Grey population.**

**Nature: Knowledge seekers, rather let others do actual fighting, try to find most beneficial, logically sound conclusion. Knowledge comes easy to them, otherwise genral behaviour mirrors that of other organic races.**

**Vulcans/Romulans: Non-JJ abrams universe. Loved that film, but for ease's sake I want to avoid an alternate universe having already occurred. Human like in appearance, but much older. At some stage in the past, the word of a wise philosopher drove a wedge between the vulcans, leaving a few to split off and venture out to form the Romulan empire.**

**The Vulcans focused on intellectual development, and were integral in developing and uplifting humanity and the Na'vi to full space faring level. Are well respected as intellectuals, but are wary of for their relative coldness. The Romulans were more passionate, believing emotion to the driving force of a species.**

**Appearance: Human like, pointed ears, like Elves from Lord of the Rings. Average life span is 200 years. Have hair like humans, though Romulans often shave it all off except the eyebrows. Eyebrows are more angled, giving Vulcans a jokingly referred look of always appearing grumpy. Are vegetarians by choice in the Vulcan case, but both are naturally ominores.**

**Culture: Vulcans focus primarily on living devoid of emotion, to enhance the awareness of the mind by purging the distraction of emotion confliction. Romulans did not share this opinion, which led to their flight from Vulcan.**

**Nature: Vulcans are cold, emotionless and logical, as their culture often leads them to be. Romulans are more passionate, more aggressive.**

**Homeworld: Vulcan [Vulcans], 40 Vega, Romulus [Romulans] Nahras System.**

**Klingons: A reptilian, warrior race. Known for initial aggression with the now non-existant galactic federation of planets. Eventually settled to be a valuable military ally, though their aggressive nature places tension between them and other races.**

**Appearance: Reptillian/Mammal cross, scaled skin yet warm blooded. Sharp teeth, ridged foreheads, and often scraggly black hair, otherwise resememble humans and Vulcans in size and appearance. Five digit hands and feet, but with claws. Often compared to, for simplicity of appearance, as a reptilian ape.**

**Culture: Warrior, service driven, comparable to ancient Japanese honour driven system. For example, few Klingons are taken prisoner in combat, as ritualistic suicide is still, unfortunately, preferred over living.**

**Music and performing arts are integral in Klingon culture, and Klingon plays are surprisingly popular in many areas of the Galaxy.**

**Nature: Aggressive, but passionate. Simply put.**

**Homeworld:**

**Sril'sask: My first of three original species. A resemblance to Sentient Troodon [prehistoric, intelligent pack hunter dinosaur] is best basic description. Growing up on a predator infested world, the Sril'sask developed as aggressively as possible, until establishing themselves as the dominant species. By the 2100s, they ad achieved space flight. Behind the Na'vi they are the youngest into Space.**

**Appearance: Are roughly 12 feet long head to tail, but stand about 6-7 feet tall. Stand somewhat upright, but can transition between straight and upright by altering their tail position. They lay eggs for their young.**

**Hands are 3 digited, with 2 fingers and one thumb, and the feet have 4 digits, with 3 gripping digits and one rearward facing digit for balance. The feet and hands have fierce talons, to complement the numerous sharp teeth the Sril'sask have in their mouths. Unlike many lizards, the Sril'sask developed cheeks, allowing them to chew their food.**

**Culture: Warrior, rank driven. Much like older earth based society, climbing up ranks in Sril'sask society is frown upon. However, that does not mean it does not happen. As such the culture is based on hierarchy, and there is little in the way of performing arts, but singing and music are relatively important. As a warrior race, underground gladiator rings, though outlawed, still exist.**

**Nature: Aggressive, like to assert dominance, but when subjected to others, know their place. Once reminded of their standing, a Sril'ask will fulfil his duty to the letter. Intelligent by pack hunter descent, and rarely are found alone.**

**Homeworld: Karahej, Nirulis system.**

**Leg'hrul: A race of sentient avian aliens, one of two members of the Leg'hrul/Kro'nogri Alliance, and the second of my two original races. In history they developed more slowly, but had slightly longer to do it, and it was only just 600 years ago that they colonized their first out of home system world. With the Alliance, and the earlier meeting with the Kro'nogri, technological development accelerated as both shared technology.**

**Appearance: Average lifespan slightly shorter than humans, at 130 years. Resemble earth Eagle species, with slight feather headcrest on both males and females. The heads have a beak that tapers to a point, but widens near the head. They have small cheeks, allowing chewing. The plumage is smooth on males and females, the feathers pressing low to streamline or promote heat loss, or fluff out slightly to prevent heat loss in cold weather. The males have a denser neck plumage, part of their mating displays from their animal traits, as a larger neck 'frill' was a sign of dominance. In addition, the tail feathers of male Leg'hrul are longer and wider, another dominance trait, resembling earth peacocks in that respect of sexual features. Like all birds, Leg'hrul possess hollow, more vulnerable bones.**

**Unlike other birds, the Leg'hrul can stand more upright, using their more longer legs and tail feathers for balance, with males being slightly bigger than females. Males average about 7 feet tall standing up, whilst females are shorter at 6.5 feet. The Leg'hrul lay eggs, and are actually fullycarnivorous, having been both predator and prey on their homeworld before achieving sentience, though minced or pre-chewed meat is more preferred for chicks, as it is more easily digested.**

**The feet have 4 digits each, with 3 forwards facing claws, and one backwards facign claw for balance on each foot. The hands on the wings have 2 finger claws, and one thumb claw. In fact, the wings are the most complex feature. The wings are like that of a Pteranodon's, with the hands halfway down their length. The upper half of the wings are double jointed, giving the Leg'hrul quad section arms in fact. The upper two joints will fold inwards, resting parallel and in contact with the lower two sections, much like a switchblade. In flight, these upper sections flip out, deploying their wing feathers too. This adaptive wing allow Leg'hrul to more easily interact within environments requiring delicate hands. In terms of colouration, the Leg'hrul have a designated pattern scheme of an undercoat, and overcoat and details. The undercoat is normally a shade of blue, whilst the overcoat can vary much more. The details are almost always a shade of red.**

**Culture: Leg'hrul abide by a code of duty, and so long as an activity does not infringe upon a designated job or task set by either that person or another, lenience is allowed. As such, Leg'hrul are more lenient about recreational drug use and drinking, though laws limiting them for safety are still in effect. It is much like human society, though with less morality labels, just the actual safety labels. **

**Leg'hrul are the more creative of the two Alliance races, with a prowess in performing, symphonic and display arts more common in them than the Kro'nogri. **

**Nature: Leg'hrul are cautious and calculating, not ones to take unnecessary risks. They are not as ambitious or impatient as Kro'nogri, but are seen as the sources of intelligence or wisdom in the Alliance.**

**Homeworld: Vae'rakin, Kalesrin system.**

**Kro'nogri: The second Alliance race, and my third original alien race. They colonized out of their home system roughly 400 years ago, but developed more rapidly than the Leg'hrul. By the time both races met 150 years ago, they had reached a relatively similar technology level each, and only accelerated as knowledge was shared, and the Alliance eventually forged.**

**Appearance: Reptilian, cold blooded, average lifespan 180 years, longer due to naturally slower metabolism. Roughly 6 feet tall on average, and are slightly shorter than humans on average, but dwarves and giants are surprisingly common. No notable size difference in males and females. Have thin, yet strong scales on their bodies, and some larger plating on their chest, backs, upper arms and legs and the tops of the heads. Bony ridges cover the backs, like a crocodile, and arched ridges form growths over the pair of eyes. The heads resemble that of an iguana, though the face is slightly flatter, with the eyes facing forwards, like that of a human.**

**The hands are four digits, with 3 clawed fingers and one clawed thumb. The feet have five digits, with 4 forward facing clawed toes, and one rearwards facing clawed thumb toe.**

**The legs are straight, but the pelvic bone means they are further apart compared to a human. The legs are similar to that of humans, and the limbs are more muscular, and the bones made of lighter, stronger natural carbon fibre, like the Na'vi, as a result of the Kro'nogri homeworld being 2.0 times Earth's gravity.**

**Colouration varies little, and the common colours include brown and green shades, or even dark yellow. Eye colour varies between yellow and red most commonly, though cases of blue and even green have been reported.**

**Kro'nogri lay eggs, and are full carnivores, feeding on anything from full on animal meat to even insects, an adaptation to the available prey. However, Kro'nogri can go long periods without fully sustaining water or food levels, as their home world was very dry and arid in many areas.**

**Culture: Strictly based hierarchy system. One is treated with respect relevant to one's social standing e.g. unqualified worker, qualified, elite, govt. official etc. As such, climbing up ranks is harder. The economy grew on mining and industry, as the homeworld was poor in biology, but rich in mineral wealth and resources.**

**Kro'nogri customs stress the usefulness of teamwork, as they are a more numerous race than the Leg'hrul, and have human equivalent intelligence, they band together to combine skills.**

**Nature: Are social, but strict in behaviour. Usually do not travel alone, unless for social occasions only. Are naturally tended to seek the company of their own kind, but exceptions do occur.**

**Predatory background shows hints of mild, but surprisingly low aggression. Note: The mood of a Kro'nogri can alter in accordance with heat energy they take in externally. An energy deprived Kro'nogri will display, in addition to weariness and sleepiness, a deprived mental capacity, and are more susceptible to spouts of depression or boredom. Energy enriched Kro'nogri however can become overactive, even aggressive, as a way to expend energy. Carefully engineered undersuits worn by all Kro'nogri help regulate their body temperatures by altering their own temperature.**

**Organizations:**

**Union of Interstellar Powers [UIP]: **

**An extended and improved extension of the former Galactic Federation of Planets, improved to fully encompass by now Humans, Vulcans, Na'vi, Romulans, Klingons, Cybertronians, Predators, Greys and Sril'sask.**

**Note: Due to recent addition of Sril'sask, illegal activity spawned by corruption is still being combated more so than among other races, made worse by the naturally aggressive nature of the Sril'sask.**

**Military, economic and cultural partnership. Primary system of government is democratic, monarchy, or constitutional monarchy.**

**The Alliance [Alliance]: **

**A two part alliance between the avian Leg'hrul, and the reptilian Kro'nogri. Military, cultural and economic partnership. Primary system of government is a strict, hierarchy type monarchy, with the monarch having ultimate power over decisions made.**

**Right readers. This segment was long overdue, so I decided to add it. I revealed the backstory of each race and organization, enough to ensure few remain clueless. The characters that appear are introduced as I go. So enjoy my work please.**


	2. Chapter 1, the beginning

**Chapter 1: The arrival**

Date: 12th May 2879

Overhead, the great eye of a world watched over the landscape, akin to a parent watching its child.

As the gas giant Polyphemus orbited overhead, it moved in a way that the light from the two main stars in the system were able to fully shine down on the jungle canopy of Pandora. As the rays of Alpha Centuari A and B bathed the jungle, one feature of the landscape cast a shadow still over the green canopy.

The massive trunk of a tree, topped with countless branches and leaves, was an awe inspiring sight to any being, local or visiting. The tree itself rose just over a kilometre high. Amongst the leaves of the tree's branches, the rustling of large animals could be heard, accompanied by piercing screeches and roars. The Banshees, or _Ikran_, were nestled into the branches, only venturing out when hunting, or when called by their chosen rider.

On one of the larger branches, a blue figure, towering 3 metres tall, was feeding a scarlet and yellow _Ikran_. By the shape of its body, from a distance one could judge it was female, as the curves gave it away. The woman grinned as the Ikran snapped up the chunk of meat she had carried up from the base of the tree, and spoke softly to the creature in her native tongue:

"_Yerik meat always was your favourite, wasn't it_?" The reptilian creature, with its long snout, filled with sharp teeth, and with four piercing eyes, gently hissed in agreement. It then gave a gentle head nudge, which if she were not used to it, the woman would have fallen over. It then proceeded to spread its four wings, and take off with eagerness to resettle in the treetop.

Having done her daily visit to her beloved _Ikran_, Firi'sry proceeded to start the trek down the spiralling rows of internal branches that formed a stairwell up the massive tree. As she descended, voices of men, women and children alike became louder. Eventually, she reached the level where multiple woven hammocks bridged the gap between the tree's inside wall, and the inner structure. To Firi'sry, one hammock was her destination, the one which she and her mate shared. Normally, she rose an hour before her mate, in order to watch the jungle below from the top of the massive tree and to feed her _Ikran_.

This morning though, the hammock was empty.

In mild surprise and confusion, Firi'sry looked around for her mate, only to be shocked by him landing just a metre in front of her, after which booming laughter could be heard from him.

"I see you are shocked that I woke this early!" He cheerfully noted to Firi'sry when her initial shock dampened: "_H'nuptec, you sneak, you know that I never liked you sneaking up on me, and as I am now, it should apply more so!"_ As Firi'sry playfully scolded H'nuptec, she batted him upside the head, to which he responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and saying: "_Just because you are with child, does not exempt you from the games we play on each other!"_ He bent down and kissed Frir'sry's stomach, which was beginning to protrude, to which she giggled loudly.

To the couple's annoyance, a shout from the Chieftain from 3 levels down interrupted their bonding: _"All hunters ready to hunt for today!" _H'nuptec, looking visibly annoyed, turned to Firi'sry: _"Sorry, I must go now, as hunting leader I am needed or not as much success will follow with the hunt, and the Omaticaya people will go hungry. I will return when the sun begins to set." _Firi'sry replied: _"I am not sad that you have to go, I just wish I could still go, but I am sure this child will be worth the trouble, she is causing me discomfort at every opportunity." _

Laughing, H'nuptec grabbed his bow, arrow satchel and knife, saying: "_That means the child will be strong, and how do you know it will be a girl?" _Offhandedly, Firi'sry said: _"A mother knows these things, and Eywa has hinted at this too in my dreams."_ H'nuptec again laughed as he leapt down to join the hunting party: _"Fine, I guess both you and Eywa know best in these matters." _

As she watched her mate ride off on his Direhorse, or _Pa'li_, with the hunters behind him, Firi'sry drew circles on her stomach's growing lump, and thought absent mindedly: _Soon I shall have a family of my own, and this child shall be a part of it._

Little did she know that a few million kilometres away, in the vacuum of space, an event would occur that would affect her soon to become family, as the child Firi'sry now carried would not actually be the oldest that she would raise.

As the starship hurtled through space at almost unbelievable speeds, it made no sound at all. A carefully manufactured vessel, capable of traversing the stars of the known galaxy at a reasonable pace, where travel times of 10 light years an hour were commonplace. In this case, the journey section that travelled above light speed had only taken 25 minutes. The departure point, Sol system, Earth: the capital and home world of humans. The destination: Alpha Centuari system, Keletari, the capital of the Na'vi people, as their homeworld was Pandora. Aboard the vessel was routine goods traded for profit on each world's market, and the accompanying handful of passengers, as this vessel was part of a ferrying organization for different worlds across the galaxy.

One family of humans was seated near the rear of the small passenger section, a young adult male, by the name of Anthony, his wife Valerie, his 14 year old daughter Diane, and a 4 month old boy called Alexander. As the flight intercom buzzed to life, announcing that the ship would begin entering Keletari's atmosphere in 1 hour. As the vessel began to slow down, its plasma thrusters radiating with heat, another ship came into view on both sensor screens and sight. A beaten, battle scarred vessel roughly 300 metres long, easily more than double the size of the ferry vessel, at only 130 metres. Suddenly, to the alarm of the family, a cry was heard from ahead in the cockpit.

"Something's jamming our communications, and a foreign signal is taking control, our engines are shutting down!" Diane suddenly screamed aloud as a blast of concentrated plasma incinerated the left engine, and rocked the ship. "They're shooting us!"

Within minutes, the smaller vessel was pulled alongside the larger vessel, and a docking tube was extending to meet the smaller vessel. Upon seeing the markings that decorated the larger ship's hull, the pilots deduced that the commanders of the other ship were pirates. Judging the damage taken, and the notoriety of this group of pirates for killing all aboard the vessels they plundered, the pilots ordered the ship[ be abandoned.

Before the docking tube linked to the ferry's hull, Valerie placed Alexander in the care of a robotic caretaker that accompanied the family, and told it to get in the escape pod with Alexander, while she went to make sure everyone else got into it safely.

Unfortunately, fate dealt a blow against the family, as the pirates sent out a final EMP burst, similar to the one used to stop the ship, that crippled the ships engines, and subsequently launched all escape pods. As Valerie turned to call her husband and daughter, the sound of a pod door shutting caused her to turn in horror, just in time to see the escape pod, the vessel's only escape pod, launch from its slot.

As the pod hurtled from the doomed ship and its attacker, the mother couldn't help but utter a heart wrenching cry of pain, as a plasma bolt from a boarding pirate's rifle impacted just left of her upper spine, and as she watched her only son be shot out into space, to be alone, regardless of the fact that all pods automatically set course for the nearest habitable world.

The escape pod flew at a brisk pace, aiming for the nearest hospitable world. As the pod had launched only an hour from Keletari, it headed in that general direction., but not towards Keletari. The pod's onboard navi-computer had calculated a quicker trip was possible if it headed for Pandora.

Many centuries before, it would have been suicide for a human to set foot on Pandora, as the atmosphere was toxic to their bodies. However, after a collaboration of the local Na'vi providing samples, and scientific branches from Earth, including a scientific branch of the Resources Development Administration, or RDA, in 2184, a medicinal virus was tested and proven, that rapidly adapted a human to be able to survive very well in toxic conditions, such as those seen on Pandora. As an added benefit, the changed were passed down genetically, and for those who needed an extra dose, the change only took a few hours.

Within half an hour, the pirate vessel had jumped to supra-light speed, and in the orbit of Pandora the pod began to slow its descent, as it hurtled through Pandora's relatively thicker atmosphere, glowing red hot as the friction superheated the hull. Onboard, Alexander cried in terror, wanting comfort, not knowing that the caretaker robot that accompanying him had been shut down and programming largely corrupted in the last EMP burst. Behind the plasma trail, the remnants of a large explosion, caused by uncontrolled antimatter annihilating with matter, decorated the night sky, as a result of the final fate of Alexander's family, the pilots and the ferry vessel.

Nightfall from the home of the Omaticaya was a sight to behold. As the twin suns fell, the jungle lit up with bluish bioluminescent light fro the plants, and the banded clouds of Polyphemus dominated the night. The atmosphere in _Kelutral_ was pleasant, as today's hunt had seen good success, with 4 Yerik and even a Sturmbeast, along with piles of fruits from the forest. As hunters recollected tales of the day's hunt, and children listened intently, Firi'sry and H'nuptec were busy stargazing.

"_We would have 2 Sturmbeast had I seen that calf come from under it." _H'nuptec said, whilst nursing a bruise he had obtained on his upper arm, along with a few scrapes and a shallow cut on his leg. _"Do not feel bad, nobody succeeds all the time. Besides, some of the other hunters found it funny that a calf tripped up your Pa'li, and you landed in a river."_

"_Thank you my love, you have lightened my spirit, but I think the other hunters will joke about it for a while yet. In fact, if you listen, they are talking about it right now." _

As he gestured to the crowd around the fire pit, the words 'H'nuptec', 'calf' and 'tripped' reached their ears, before they saw the crowd emit another round of laughter.

Seeing H'nuptec's dejected and embarrassed face, made visible by his flaring bioluminescent markings, Firi'sry changed subject: _"Ignore what happens over there, come, let's look at the heavens, that should take your mind off their stories." _H'nuptec, seeing that it was the best way to not dwell on his shortcomings, joined Firi'sry.

After a half an hour of gazing, one sight came into view that always intrigued Firi'sry, the sight of the nearby moon Keletari. As it rose in the sky, the dark side was in view, which allowed the imprints of the more technologically embracing side of the Na'vi to be seen on that world. Thin lines of lighted transport routes could be very faintly seen, at least with the keener eyesight of the Na'vi, and the clusters of lights that dotted the surface, marking the cities, the equivalent of hometrees on theat world, as on many others. H'nuptec, following to where Firi'sry was now intently watching, saw the display of artificial lights of the space faring branch of the Na'vi. He himself was not as impressed or curious as Firi'sry was with this alternate lifestyle, but curious nonetheless.

Like Firi'sry, though not as much, he wondered what it would be like to live as one among those who were surrounded by things not made by nature, those to viewed traversing worlds as a now relatively easy task. In the past, such civilizations had previously not respected nature, but ever since the RDA incident on Pandora, with this very tribe, all space faring races had pulled their act together if need be, and now respected and preserved nature, even if they did not live in close quarters to it themselves.

"_I have not seen that star before!" _Firi'sry suddenly cried, which jerked H'nuptec out of his curious thoughts. As he turned his sight to this 'new star', Firi'sry watched intently as the star glowed white. Mysteriously, the star had not been there a minute ago, yet there it was. Outside of the couple's notice, other Na'vi in hometree were watching this new celestial body with awe. Firi'sry looked around at the watchful faces, only to see them begin to disappointed, which caused her to again look at the star, only to see it becoming dimmer. Within 5 minutes, the light had completely faded, and the sky where it had been was as empty as had always been.

The evening meal was subject to the same conversation between groups of Na'vi. The talks ranged from speculations of a sign from Eywa, to some saying it could have been a trick of the light from the neighbouring celestial bodies. Up in the canopy, Firi'sry was busy mounting her _Ikran_, preparing to take off for a night flight, one she had been yearning for since she found out she was expecting 5 months ago. After persuading her mate to let her go, just to have some fun, as her growing child would prevent any flights after this, to which he submitted to her will, she had dashed up to the _Ikran _nesting area. As she lowered her goggles, made from transparent plant material, she mentally ordered her mount to take off, which she did so willingly, for she too, yearned to fly with her rider after so long. With graceful dive and beat of the double set of wings, the pair took off on their usual leisure flight path.

A few miles away, the escape pod of the unfortunate ferry vessel was in its final stage of landing, having deployed its parachutes and mini fusion rockets. After calculating the safest landing zone, the rockets ignited, slowing the descent, and gravity compensators prepared to charge to protect the living passenger from the G-forces he would experience when landing. As the pod broke the cloud cover, it slowed to below the speed of sound, and by the following boom, alerted its landing to all within miles.

As the Na'vi slept or prepared to sleep, a loud boom pierced the calm, quiet night air. Clumsily, Na'vi people rose from their hammocks, to see a site never seen in their history. As if a third sun was now falling from the sky, illuminating the night. As they watched in awe and shock, the fireball smashed into the jungle about two miles from hometree, sending up a cloud of dirt and dust. The resounding shockwave from the landing reached the tree half a second later, which sounded off as a short, low rumble.

As Firi'sry circled overhead, she kept mentally asking if she had been tricked by her eyes. She had just seen a fireball emerge from the sky, puncturing the cloud cover like a knife punctures flesh, and then smash into the jungle half a mile away. Obviously her _Ikran _had let loose a shriek of terror, and took a few seconds to be calmed. As she looked upon the devastation below, her curiosity determined her next course of action. She dove towards the crash site, for she wanted to see what caused such destruction.

The trees and plants had been flattened in the blast, nothing was left intact. The escape pod had hit the ground hard, sending dirt and debris high up into the air. The air was choked with dust, disturbed by the impact. A gaping hole in the forest canopy marked the pod's direction of landing, and a smashed trench marked where the pod had dug into the ground. Resting against a large tree, which had been lucky to be impacted after the it had slowed considerably, was the beaten, steaming and dirt covered escape pod. Despite all the abuse it had suffered on landing, it had fulfilled its duty. The passenger had survived.

Quietly crying as he began to realize the ride was over, and that no one would comfort him, Alexander lay in his seat, restraining straps and gravity compensators having saved his life. The robot lay uselessly on the ground, having been unable to brace itself due to being offline, and now would never be online again. As the infant lay in sadness, a shadow flew over the window of the pod, and its caster landed nearby.

As Firi'sry landed, the object that caused this devastation became known: a strange metal pod. Along it, the metal bore burns and scratches from the landing. The side was marked with insignia in languages, some that Firi'sry recognized, others that she knew of but did not know to read. In Na'vi, English and 4 other types of language, what appeared to be warnings and instructions marked the body of this pod.

At the words 'safety' and 'escape', Firi'sry came to realize this object was made to keep an object safe inside. Upon examination, she saw a handle where she could open the pod, and also a window to see what was inside. Being cautious, she leaned towards the window, and made the mistake of placing a hand on the metal.

The reaction was not immediate, as the metal was hot enough to repel, but not hot enough to burn, as the pod was still cooling from its fiery descent. Firi'sry again looked through the window, being careful not to touch the sides of the pod.

What she saw puzzled her more than anything else in her life. A young baby lay inside the pod, looking like it was in discomfort, as it looked to be crying, though no sound could be heard. Throwing caution to the wind, Firi'sry grasped the handle of the pod, surprised to find it not as hot as the metal, as it was made of a ceramic material. The pod opened with a hiss of air rushing in, and the door swung open wide.

The moment the door opened, the child ceased crying, and stared up in curiosity at its visitor. Firi'sry looked upon the youngling. It was much smaller than any Na'vi baby, and its skin was a yellowish-pink, and had tufts of dark brown hair on its head, again unusual for a Na'vi.

'_A human?'_ Thought Firi'sry, as she finally realized what this baby actually was. Despite her not having travelled off world in her life, she had heard of humans. They mainly stayed in family groups, and were relatively weak compared to the Na'vi. However, with the help of the humans and other alien species, the Na'vi had effectively been uplifted to the technological level of other races. Like some tribes on the human home world and other home worlds, the Na'vi had reserved their homeland, or in their case, moon, as a nature reserve. Only a few colonies existed on Pandora, to preserve the unique biology on the planet, and not allow it to be harmed as usually happened when a species advanced.

Looking upon the feeble being with pity, Firi'sry gently scooped it up into her arms, resting it in her arms at chest level. Remembering how feeble any alien species is without its own kind in an environment as hostile as the Pandoran jungle, she realized that the child would probably die from starvation or become a meal if left alone. She decided to take the child back to _kelutral_, and ask what is to be done from the clan leaders.

As Firi'sry approached her _Ikran_, it hissed in a partially aggressive, but mainly curious manner. Upon making _Tsuheylu,_ Firi'sry told it that it needed her help, and to fly to hometree gently. With a series of wingbeats, the expecting huntress, _Ikran_ and human child were on their way to hometree.

Cautious murmurs and conversations echoed on the bottom level of _Kelutral_, as prayers were given to Eywa to guide the people in this strange occurrence, others sought the wisdom of the Tsahik and Ole'tykan. An _Ikran's_ wingbeats and low screech punctured the talking, as a female huntress climbed off her flying mount, and disconnected from it. As she walked towards the center of hometree, people could make out a very small bundle in her arms. Before she could reach the clan leaders though, her mate burst forth from the crowd, and briefly enquired her of certain matters, before backing off, and allowing her to stand before the Tsa'hik and Ole'tykan. As she unwrapped the bundle, the two clan leaders' expressions changed from passive attentiveness to alert curiosity, as they approached the huntress.

Firi'sry advanced through the parting crowd, noting their stares at the bundle that held the human child. The child had fallen asleep on the flight back, and had stayed quiet. During the flight, she had found that it was a boy, and that he had a name on the clothing he was travelling in, though it was difficult to pronounce.

Suddenly, H'nuptec burst through the crowd, and ran up to her anxiously:

"_Are you unhurt, did the fireball hurt you?"_ She replied: _"I am completely fine, but I have a matter concerning what I found where the fireball landed which I must talk to the Tsa'hik and Ole'tykan about."_

Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, H'nuptec backed into the crowd, staying near the front to get a view of the talk. Firi'sry positioned herself in front of the dual leadership of the Omaticaya, and respectfully bowed and saluted, careful not to disturb the child.

The Ole'tykan spoke first: "_What is it you wish to discuss with us?"_ Firi'sry spoke with courage: _"I have been to where the fireball landed, and have seen what caused it."_ Worried murmurs passed through the clan, to be quickly silenced by the Ole'tykan's hand. The Tsa'hik spoke next:

"_What caused it?"_ Firi'sry spoke of what she saw. The metal pod, the human, Na'vi and alien languages on the side, but withheld the news of the child briefly. Again the Ole'tykan spoke:

"_This metal object came from the sky. It must have been part of the vessals the humans and other people, including our own, use to traverse worlds."_ _"There was also a human inside the object, a small human boy, not even half a year old, so I took pity on him and rescued him from the wreck." _Firi'sry stated, whilst unwrapping the bundle, and presenting the child to the clan leaders. They recoiled in surprise, taken aback by the appearance of a species that normally doesn't appear on this area of the world.

"_This is a human child, he does not belong here, he belongs with his own kind, out there." _Said the Tsa'hik, gesturing to the sky. The Ole'tycan spoke next, deciding on a course of action: "_The child should be with his own kind. However, in the past, other humans have proven themselves capable of living among us, even in their weaker bodies." _A murmur of agreement rippled through the clan, as they recalled stories of humans joining them and other clans in the past, such as Jake Sully over 700 years before. The Ole'tykan pressed on: "_We shall send messengers to the nearest colony, and we shall find out how this child came to land on this world, separated from his kind. When we know what happened, the final decision of his fate shall be made. Until then, Firi'sry, as the one who rescued him, shall care for him for now." _The clan agreed to this arrangement, and Firi'sry was pleased that she could become a mother of sorts until the child's fate was decided.

A week passed, and 2 human colonists came to the Omaticaya hometree, to see the child. They said the boy was called Alexander, but all called him Alex for ease's sake. They also explained that the child was the only survivor of a pirate attack near Pandora, and that his family were all dead. The option of returning the child was now impossible. An unusual observation sealed the child's fate. The boy had bonded closely with Firi'sry, and was sad whenever he was parted from her. H'nuptec was more resilient, due to his human status, but showed a shared love nonetheless.

In light of this, it was decided that the boy would be raised amongst the Omaticaya, at least until he was old enough to make his way in the worlds beyond Pandora.

Six months later, Firi'sry's child was born, a girl, to be named Sru'sky. She would be Alex's younger sister.

This is the story of a boy called Alex, trying to make his way through the galaxy, unaware of the magnitude of the events he will be a part and cause of.


	3. Chapter 2

**Into the Darkness chapter 2,**

**The upbringing and the game**

**16****th**** July 2889.**

As the bioluminescent light began to dim in the first rays of Alpha Centuari A, a small shape was seen sitting on the ledge of a hole of hometree, which served as a window. Unlike the normal inhabitants of the tree, this one wasn't born amongst them.

As the 10 year old Alex looked up to the sky, his attention was focused on the light patterns of the advanced civilization on the nearby moon Keletari. His thoughts turned to his arrival, as had always done on occasions where he watched the stars.

_I wonder what it is like living on their world, and the others the Na'vi and humans inhabit? What about the other kinds of people? Surely if I was born out there, I must not be destined to stay on this world?_

As his thoughts became focused on places beyond Pandora, his attention shifted to the jungle below, and to the sounds of the waking clan members. He had always been an early riser.

_I do not even fit in here. I am a human, not a Na'vi. I have to be careful not to be stepped upon, and my body is smaller and weaker than them, even for its size. I see the looks of smugness the other children have, and even those much younger than me are already larger than me, even my sister._

As he thought of Sru'sky, he grew slightly happier, but also repressed the look of disdain that almost made his way to his face afterwards. _She may be my sister, but she is a Na'vi. She can not understand my troubles. The good thing is that she is one of the few Na'vi that treats me better, like an equal, and doesn't exclude me for what I am, whether out of cruelty or fear for my safety. I just want to be as strong as them, or at least prove I can be. I am restricted from going into the forest, as I am too fragile, and I cannot play games with other kids too, not that they would let me anyways._

_I just want to be stronger, to prove I am not weak._

As Firi'sry gracefully walked down the spirals of the interior tree trunk, she made sure to keep a watchful eye on her daughter, as Sru'sky was a curious child. At 9 years old, she was at the stage where she was still naïve, but was gradually maturing. She was also showing emerging signs that she could become a good hunter, but also had a skill for storytelling and weaving, and a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge that could take her far.

Alex was a slightly differing story.

Due to his human condition, he was at risk from injury more so than other children his age. Out of concern for his safety, H'nuptec and Firi'sry had forbid him from playing in games or wandering into the forest, as he would more likely get hurt. Unfortunately, as he got older, Alex grew to see this in a negative way. Firi'sry feared that Alex was thinking of himself as an outcast, by both humans and Na'vi. This was due to his thoughts that his parents may have abandoned him, and that he was excluded from many activities of the clan. This exclusion seemed to alienate Alex from the rest of the clan, and caused him to develop a partially antisocial, sarcastic lifestyle, and would often sit alone and just think to himself. Due to his exclusion, Alex had time to gain knowledge of the clan quickly, and was the most knowledgable people of all the children in terms of clan history, and had also asked about humans too. Unfortunately, humans were still distrusted slightly, ever since they destroyed the original hometree centuries ago

H'nuptec was not helping much. He was often concerned that Alex was a burden, and that he would not become a contributing member of the clan. He did love him as a parent would nevertheless, but the negative emotions were there. Firi'sry thought otherwise, that he was fated for something greater, something beyond Pandora. It was this hope that caused her to believe that Alex would one day decide to leave Pandora, but hopefully not for good.

As she descended, Firi'sry caught sight of Alex on a viewing ledge, one that the clan had universally agreed to be nicknamed 'Alex's ledge'. He would often, if not always wake early, and come here to gather his thoughts, as he was able to do so as a result of his spare time, courtesy of his exclusion from many clan events. Firi'sry decided to cheer him up this morning, and could see that Sru'sky was thinking the same.

"_Let's sneak up on him and take him to breakfast, he always goes as the last member, lets have him come in with more of the clan."_ Sru'sky whispered to a now kneeling Firi'sry. As silently as possible, aided by natural stealthiness and the distraction of the passing tribe members, mother and daughter snuck up to the ledge where Alex rested.

What they failed to recognize was that living amongst the clan had forced Alex's body to adapt stronger senses, including hearing and touch, as he barely heard them and felt the vibrations as they were inches from him.

Before they could grab him around the waist, he loudly muttered: "_Its not only Na'vi who have good senses in this tree._" As he swung off the ledge onto the floor, Alex looked to his mother and sister. Despite being a year older than her, Sru'sky was now a good 6, 6.5 feet tall, with still childishly short, black hair common to the Na'vi. Alex however, only was a measly 5 feet, despite it being tall by human standards. He also had tanned skin, with a yellowish, pink colour to it, and short, brown hair, cut short for useful reasons by Alex and his reasonable skills at self barber skills. He saw that too much hair was trouble to keep in order. Firi'sry towered over them both at nearly 10 feet, but that was average height for a Na'vi woman. She had the usual long black locks common in adult Na'vi, hiding the queue inside the long braid. H'nuptec also had long black locks, but was almost always cut off the scalp, only leaving his queue with hair on it, as he too saw too much hair as trouble. He then asked rather curtly in English: "What do you need of me that gives you reason to try to sneakily grab me?"

Recovering from the surprise that he sensed them, Sru'sky answered in English: "We want you to come to breakfast with us. You always go when barely anyone is around." "Maybe it's because I don't want to be stepped on, maybe since I am of not much use I should avoid being near other people and shaming myself." Replied Alex, as he miserably looked at the crowd going towards breakfast, after which he finished with: "Besides, I'm not hungry yet, and I don't need to eat much." Unfortunately an embarrassing rumble from his stomach demonstrated that on this occasion, his mind and body were in disagreement.

Smiling smugly, Firi'sry replied: "Do not fret, my son. If you come with us, I shall defend you from harm. Besides, your stomach disagrees, and it has been a while since you last ate with us." Moral boosted by his mother's consistent kindness, Alex agreed to come with them. But, not one to be blindly optimistic, Alex made a mental note.

_If this does go bad, I can always return to scraping the last of the food when everyone has eaten._

The mother, daughter and human son reached the fire pit, where the crowd had gathered, as always did, to have the morning meal. Mainly a combination of fruits and preserved meat from last hunt, it was not as fresh, but filled one's belly suitably. Some eyes averted to the latecomers, and lingered a second longer on Alex, which went unnoticed by all in the three minus himself. The other two were searching for H'nuptec, to eat with him. He waved from the crowd, and Sru'sky took off towards him, with Alex and Firi'sry following at a more calm pace, as Firi'sry was able to take longer strides, and Alex was being cautious not to step on any tails and becoming uncomfortably due to the few in the crowd who looked at him, the tail dodging being a skill he had quickly perfected.

As H'nuptec bent down to receive his daughter, she surprised him by jumping on his shoulders and landing piggyback on him, arms around his neck: _"See how quick I have become m'sempu? I want to be a hunter like you!"_ H'nuptec laughed at Sru'sky's antics, and sat down, prying his daughter off him and bringing her in front of him: _"Yes you are quick. You I can see becoming a nimble, skilled Na'vi hunter, one who may even be as good as me!" _Sru'sky giggled at this, and then calmed down enough to begin eating. H'nuptec's eyes then settled lovingly on his mate. "_Firi'sry, come, join me for out meal, before we leave for the morning hunt." _Willingly, she settled calmly next to H'nuptec, with Sru'sky settled between them. Firi'sry then turned: "_Come Alex, do not be shy, join us for the meal." _As Alex began to step forwards, he saw H'nuptec turn to see him. His eyes held the same light that always came whenever Sru'sky or Firi'sry came into his vision, but the same light seemed to flicker and slightly dim when Alex came into view.

Uncomfortable, Alex politely replied: "_Good morning father." _After which he quickly settled to the other side of Firi'sry. He reached for a fruit, when he suddenly became aware of how may pairs of eyes now watched him. Despite being in the second row from the fire pit, a large number of the people watched him, whether in curiosity or disdain Alex did not know. Even the Ole'tycan and Tsa'hik, Pey'doma and Mel'sity, who had replaced those leaders who died since Alex's arrival, were watching him. After carefully taking a fruit, Alex shrunk down as much as he could, and stared into the fire, as he ate his fruit, trying to discern shapes amongst the flames to distract his mind from the attention he drew.

The morning meal passed by relatively quickly, although much of the conversation was focused between Firi'sry, Sru'sky and H'nuptec, as Alex was to one side, and made no effort to try at conversation, as he thought his mere presence there would please them.

Unfortunately, Alex's hopes of greater cooperation with the clan were shattered as the prayers to Eywa took place before the rest of the day began. The clan chanted as one: "_May the great all-mother bless this day, and may she grant us success in all our endeavours. May the all-mother bless this day for the Omaticaya, and all may born under her watchful eye flourish throughout their lives, and maintain the balance of energy. Thanks be to Eywa."_

At the prayer's ending, Alex morbidly remembered a reason why he almost never came to breakfast during the main rush of people in the past few years. The prayer always reminded him of his difference to the rest of the people, that he was not of the clan.

_And may all born under her watchful eye flourish throughout their lives._

Alex was now more depressed than normal, as he remembered that Eywa was essentially the life force of the world. The fact that he was not born here only served to further alienate him, as some of the people avoided him, as he was not of Eywa, and feared he might bring trouble. Others looked on in sympathy, as they saw Alex as being robbed of the blessing of the great mother.

Truth be told, Alex didn't care. He had vowed many years ago to leave this world, to find where he truly belonged, where he was really born.

For neither of the two of these was on Pandora.

As the clan dispersed for the day's tasks at hand, Sru'sky looked around past her mother for Alex, as she wanted to play with him more. He rarely played with anyone, even when he could, and Sru'sky wanted to break his lonely habit. She was disappointed to see him already walking up the spiral logs to the higher levels. Sru'sky excused herself from her parents, who had also seen Alex leave, evident by the look of sadness on her mother's face, and the sad, but also disapproving face on her father. She raced up the tree after Alex, weaving in and out of the legs and bodies of the clan people. As she raced up, she expected to find him at his ledge, but was disappointed to see it unoccupied.

Brooding, she thought of other places Alex might be, and the next likely place would be in his hammock. Again, she did not find him. The same occurred with the _Ikran _nests at the top of the tree. There was only one other place that she could think of, a flat floored area about 2/3rds the way up the tree. It was a level of the tree where training could take place for hunters and warriors, for enhancing strength and stamina.

As she finally reached the level she was looking for, she was met with an unusual sight. Alex was indeed on this floor, but he was not silently thinking to himself, but was active. He was swinging on the inside branches, leaping from one to the other mid swing. After a good few minutes of this, he then jumped down to the floor, and lay down on the floor, and began lifting the weights. These were wooden branches that had differing amounts of rocks tied in bags on each end. For 10 minutes she watched him brutally exercise, shocked that this was where Alex spent part of his mornings.

Sru'sky decided to question him, tired of not knowing as much about him as she should. She walked towards him, not bothering to sneak up, as he was too preoccupied with his routine to notice. As she stood behind him, she called out: _"Brother?"_

As she called, Alex suddenly stopped, aware that he had been caught. He had hoped to avoid people seeing him here as much as possible, as he preferred a solitary lifestyle. However, on recognizing the voice, he placed the weight on the ground, and turned around to face his sister. Deeply breathing, forehead shining with sweat from the exercise he had already done for a good half hour, he breathed out a response:

"_Why did you come to find me?"_

"_You want to play a game with me and some other children?"_

"_Don't you remember, I'm too small, too weak, its too dangerous for me, so I need to stay in the tree unless with an adult." _Said Alex, turning around to continue exercising.

"_Is this why you come here every morning, to get stronger? Doesn't Eywa say that it is spirit that makes you strongest, not strength?"_

Alex whirled around and loudly retorted in English: "In case you forgot, I'm not part of Eywa am I! I'm an outcast, both here and with my own kind! Why else would my parents let me be abandoned here!"

Sru'sky took a step back, saddened to see her brother act like this towards her and to feel this way about his self. Immediately, regretting his words, he took a deep breath, and calmly spoke to Sru'sky: "_I'm sorry Sru'sky, I just became angry after the meal. The people stare at me like I'm a creature, not a person, and I can't do anything by the rules set against me. And the morning prayer reminded me of my outcast position, as I was not born under Eywa. Please, just leave me be, I want you to enjoy your games, without having to worry about me."_

As she heard the apologetic tone of Alex's words, Sru'sky calmed down, and her sadness evaporated. Looking at Alex's body, she asked: "_How long have you been doing this?" _

"_Every morning for two years, not that I have anything better to do."_

"_You don't look weak, you could probably play with us, you look strong enough to last with us, maybe even help my team win!"_

Alex considered his options. He could stay here and miss out on a unique opportunity, that if it went wrong, would still let him retreat back here, or he could miss it altogether, and lose a chance to get in with the clan. The choice was easy.

"_What's the game?"_

As Sru'sky lead Alex to the playing area at the base of hometree, Alex was thinking to himself. _What if the other kids don't like me because I'm different? What if they don't let me play?"_

Seeing the worry that etched Alex's face, Sru'sky reassured him: "_Do not worry, I am sure the others will let you play. If they don't, I won't play, and my team needs me to be ale to win."_

Smiling at these comforting words, both children rounded the last corner, emerging onto the basketball pitch. The lines were marked with stones at the edge, and face paint as the markings. A legacy of humans on Pandora, basketball was a sport introduced centuries ago, when humans first landed on the world, and it became quite popular with the Na'vi, as their tall size was suited to the game.

Unluckily, Alex had to play on a pitch with Na'vi sized hoop stands.

As both approached the group of children, one of them, a child by the name of Du'husry, barked at Sru'sky: "_Why did you bring him here, he is strange and will make the game less fun!_" Sru'sky let loose a retort: "_Do not speak of my brother like that! He just wants to learn how to play, and you don't even know how he could be, he could be good!" _Du'husry scoffed at this, and turned to his team. Sru'sky led Alex to her team, which she led herself.

Both teams had at least one extra player, and with Alex also on Sru'sky's team, the one sitting on the sidelines would teach Alex the ropes of basketball. Despite switching teachers as players switched, Alex had gotten to know the rules by the time the second game came by. Deciding to see how badly Alex would drag Sru'sky's team down, Du'husry rudely suggested that Alex play, to quicken their loss. Sru'sky agreed, but was thinking a human player would add a twist to the game that might help her team win.

As Alex walked up to his position on the pitch, his thoughts turned to Du'husry. _That kid is going down, I swear it." _As the ball was thrown into the air by one of the spare players, it quickly went to one of Alex's teammates. As Alex ran along the side, he stayed open to receive the ball. For the first five minutes, he stayed outside the action, watching the moves of the others. As he finally understood both teams' strategies, he saw the ball arc through the air, and he deftly caught it in his outstretched hands.

As he caught the ball, the opposing team swarmed Alex, surrounding him, towering over him. It was their height that defeated them though, as Alex dribbled the ball through their legs, as he raced around their legs, to regain control of the ball, dribbling it quickly before passing it to Sru'sky, who made a shot for the basket. However, it was Du'husry who intercepted the ball, smacking it away, with it landing in Alex's hands once again.

Seeing that he was in the scoring area, Alex made a running jump for the basket, dribbling the ball as his feet were still on the ground. Thanks to his brutal exercise regime, Alex's leg muscles had given him the ability to jump great heights for his age. He soared into the air, and whilst he was airborne, he shot the ball forwards, aiming for the box above the hoop as he had been taught. As he landed on the pitch again, the ball hit the box of the backboard, to hit the rim of the basket, and go tumbling through.

A great cheer rose from Alex's team, along with an even greater cheer from Sru'sky, and a rather loud exclamation from Du'husry, who couldn't believe the human had scored a basket.

As the game went on, the teams were close, but Alex's unexpected talent had allowed his team to stay ahead the whole time. The game ended with Alex making a massive jump, managing to sail past Du'hisry's head, and popping the ball neatly into the basket without it touching the rims at all.

As he landed, Alex stood triumphant, as he relished in the long desired cheers that Sru'sky and his team members gave, along with cheers from some of Du'husry's team, with Du'husry just standing slack jawed whilst staring at the human who had bested him. As his eyes panned over the teams, Alex spotted a worrying sight in the background. One that made him realize that he had broken the rules his parents set out for him, and turning his triumphant grin into a petrified mask.

Firi'sry was watching the gaggle of children with an unreadable expression, as her eyes shifted from Alex to Sru'sky repeatedly. Beside her, H'nuptec did the same. Sru'sky was worried that Alex was going to be in trouble. As for Alex, his thoughts of acceptance in the clan had shattered with at the sight of his parents seeing him out here, and after he having had such fun in the game. All he thought now was.

_This isn't going to be fun at all._

As Firi'sry had walked out to meet H'nuptec, she had decided to drop in on Sru'sky's routine basketball games, with H'nuptec in tow. Both thought of the human made game as enjoyable, although they seldom played, and H'nuptec saw further value in that it built up stamina, valuable for combat and hunts. As Sru'sky wished to be a warrior, her skills at the game would help her later when she would undergo trials to become one of the people.

As they neared the pitches, the joyful screams of the children could be heard, as they seemed to be nearing the end of a game. As Firi'sry and H'uptec rounded the corner, they both spotted their daughter weaving between the opposition, skilfully dodging each intercept. Unluckily, an opponent knocked the ball out of her hands, sending it sailing down the court, to reappear in the hands of another opponent. As he made the shot for the basket, it was just lightly tapped by Sru'sky, sending it bouncing off the basket rim, and into the hands of one of her teammates.

As the mated couple watched, they saw their daughter's teammate make a long pass downfield, but lost site of the ball amongst a flurry of players, scrabbling for possession. As they watched Du'husry, captain of the opposing team, begin to enter the fray, a person soared out of the pile into the air, with the ball in hand. Only this player was not a Na'vi.

Completely dumbfounded, Firi'sry watched in a mixture of worry, awe and shock, as Alex flew past Du'husry's head, to next launch the ball upwards, and have it neatly drop through the basket without touching the rim at all. Firi'sry turned towards H'nuptec, and saw a look similar to hers etched onto his face. As the mates turned back towards the game, they saw Sru'sky's team celebrating, applauding Alex for his shot, and if Firi'sry heard correctly, his performance overall in the game. As Alex looked around with glee, his face paled and his grin instantly fell, and a look of shock and horror descended on his face faster than a falling rock. As he stood there, Firi'sry noted the similarly worried look on Sru'sky's face.

Determined to find out what caused this set of events to play out, both Firi'sry and H'nuptec started towards their two children, calmly walking towards them, and both giving the piercing look parents of all species can give their children, which spoke of the phrase: _Time to talk._

As he watched his mother and father approach, Alex rapidly thought of his options. He could run away, but they could easily catch him, as any Na'vi adult could outrun him. Or he could stand here and face his fate.

Either way, Alex was screwed, and he knew it. _I'll stay standing, why waste energy running if I'm dead either way._

Sru'sky was hanging her head slightly behind Alex, knowing she had gone against the rules her parents set concerning Alex. Giving a silent prayer, she thought: _Please Eywa, let this be quick._

Their parents stopped about a metre in front of both of them. As he looked up at their suddenly slightly more intimidating figures, Alex gulped down a load of bile that had almost made its way out of his mouth, and began to heavily sweat out of fear for his life. The tense silence lasted a few seconds, which felt like eternity, until H'nuptec broke the silence:

"_Why are you out here, we have told you to always stay in kelutral, you're not safe out here!"_ As he listened to his father, Alex stayed literally frozen in place, eyes as wide as they can get, body visibly shaking and sweating like rainfall, normal well kempt brown hair now plastered to his head with sweat from fear and the game befroehand. Seeing her brother's petrified state, Sru'sky spoke on his behalf: "_It is not his fault, I asked him to come out here and play with me! He just looked so lonely and depressed in the tree, staying to himself! I just wanted to get my brother to be happier for a while!" _

Watching her daughter and mate exchange words, Firi'sry turned her attention to the miserable thing that Alex had now become. He was now quaking on his feet, and was glistening with sweat, and eyes bulging out of their sockets, fear harshly etched onto his face. Thinking back to what she saw, she remembered the look of joy that Alex had on his face before he saw his father and mother. She realized that Alex was capable of defending himself, and that she had been needlessly protecting him. What reinforced this was when she scanned his body more thoroughly, now noticing the muscular outline he possessed, made visible by the tense state his fear placed his body in.

Turning back to her mate and daughter, she re-entered the exchange just as she would have been dragged in, as her mate asked her:_ "Firi'sry, did we not vow to protect our son, as he was weaker than the others in the clan, and always would most likely be forever? And yet here he is perhaps endangering himself out here in a game with children much bigger than him!"_ As Firi'sry glanced repeatedly at H'nuptec, and then at a pleading Sru'sky and petrified Alex, she made up her mind.

"_My love, did you not see Alex in the game earlier? He was unharmed throughout the whole series of games, and he even performed well. But more importantly, did you see the look in his eyes? He was enjoying himself, more so than he has in years. By being overprotective of him, we robbed him of his happiness and joy, which all children are entitled to. Do you really want to send him back to his lonely state, just to keep him free from risk, something everyone encounters at some stage in life? Just look at him now, he is frozen in fear as he fears a punishment for simply being happy whilst only partially risking being hurt!" _Whilst she stated this, Firi'sry gestured to Alex, and only barely glimpsed the look of relief and confusion that crossed his face, despite being still solid from fear. Unknown to Firi'sry, Sru'sky was giving a hopeful look to Alex.

As he saw that all the cards were against him, H'nuptec growled in annoyance, but conceded, knowing when he was beaten. However, he turned to Alex, and this time, calmly spoke to him, the anger now disappearing from his voice: "_My son, is this true, have we been robbing you of your chance at joy and acceptance just to safeguard you?" _As he saw that he was not in as much trouble as he thought before, Alex calmed down enough to speak, although rather rigidly: "_Y-y-yes father. I-I was lonely up in hometree, and I looked down at the other kids, jealous that they got to play freely, while I was trapped up there. The only place I could go was the ledge I always go to, or the training floor to exercise, to become stronger. I went there every morning until lunch, I-I wanted to prove that I could be strong, and not be weak, not be an outcast alien on both this world and the one I was born on."_

Shocked that she heard Alex say such things, Firi'sry lightly scolded Alex: "_You were not abandoned, you were saved from savage thieves who killed your parents." _"Then how come I escaped when they easily could have also, why did no humans try to take me in, where I could have fit in better! WHY! It's because they probably didn't want me, which makes me and outcast there, as I am here since I'm different!" As he finished letting his bottled thoughts out to his parents for the first time, he decided to never come out again, and promptly began to sprint back to hometree, leaving Sru'sky and his so-called parents in his wake.

As she saw her son sprint off after exploding in anger, Firi'sry realized that she and H'nuptec had made a mistake in isolating him to protect him, and now would likely coop himself up in hometree for much longer. Sru'sky herself also had a look of sadness on her face, as she saw her brother, who had only minutes ago been enjoying himself, run off back to his lonely sanctuary in _Kelutral_. H'nuptec as well, usually not expressing strong emotions due to his serious nature as a hunter, felt a twinge of regret, as he realized that he had wronged Alex also.

The family decided to reconcile with their 'unique' member.

Alex furiously assaulted his body with the exercises he normally did only in the morning, but his anger had left him feeling weak and pathetic, and coming here made him put his anger and feelings of weakness to a productive use. He continuously worked his arms in his press ups, to strengthen his muscles until they ached. The pain dulled his anguish.

As he entered his 80th press up, he saw his 'family' looking at him with regret and sadness evident in their eyes. As they approached, Alex purposefully ignored them, having wanted to deal with them at dinner time at the earliest. He continued to do press ups as they crouched down next to him, a look of concern on all their faces. It was H'nuptec who spoke first:

"_My son, please stop and let us talk." _Wanting to set himself apart from the Na'vi, he spat a reply in English: "_My family is dead, remember, I don't belong here." _H'nuptec, seeing no other alternative, seized Alex around the waist, and carried him a large nearby branch, with Alex protesting as he was humiliatingly carried across the room. As he was dropped onto the branch, Alex spoke again: "Well, what is there to talk about?" As H'nuptec sat to Alex's left, Firi'sry sat herself to Alex's right, with Sru'sky sitting between her mother's legs.

Unexpectantly, Firi'sry engulfed Alex in a hug, causing his eyes to swell in surprise, particularly when she spoke with great sadness in her voice: "My boy, I am ashamed of how I have treated you. Me and your father only wanted to protect you because-" "Because you thought I was weak just because I was human?" Interrupted Alex. Firi'sry and H'nuptec both solemnly nodded their heads, as H'nuptec wrapped his arms around his mate and son, whilst Sru'sky wrapped her arms around Alex's waist. At this point, having exhausted the ability to bulge his eyes in shock, Alex relaxed, and began to calm down in the comforting, but increasing suffocating embrace, as the weight gave him trouble breathing.

"_If there is anything we can do to make it up to you, please tell us now, we just want you to be happy." _As Firi'sry tightened her embrace o Alex as she said this, three requests came to Alex's mind. One of which had only recently come to his attention.

"First, can you just treat me like a regular kid, like Sru'sky please?" Both parents nodded their heads, while Sru'sky giggled in joy. "Second, can you please get off, I'm having trouble breathing." Blushing, the family removed Alex from their grasp, but continued to stare at him lovingly.

"The last thing I ask is something I think I need to do. I want to visit humans, to see my own kind at least once." Both Firi'sry and H'nuptec stared at their son, then at each other, looking for guidance. After a few seconds, they returned their attention to Alex. Firi'sry spoke: _"Wise words my child, you should see your own people and culture, as it is a part of you. When you turn 11 in a few months time, we shall take you to the nearest human settlement, a nearby city, where you shall at last be among your own kind."_

As Alex heard these words, he hugged his mother as strongly as she had a few moments before, and laughed as H'nuptec ruffled his dark brown hair.

As the sun set that day, Alex looked towards Keletari, at the lights of a space faring civilization, knowing that in 4 months time, he would be getting a sample of what it was like to be among them. His mind was racing as he tried to fall asleep that night.

_What will they be like?_

_How many different types of people will there be?_

_Will I for once not be the shortest among people?_

Note to readers: if I keep up at my rate, I should have at least one, maybe two chapters up every week. Please review, I would like some feedback.


	4. Chapter 3

**Into the Darkness chapter 3,**

**Mischief and New horizons.**

**22****nd**** November 2889.**

It was now a week since Alex's 11th birthday had passed. During the 4 months since the basketball game, much had happened within the clan. Sru'sky's 10th birthday had happened, and although it was not the most important date of a Na'vi's life, it was celebrated within the family and much of the clan nonetheless. Also, during the four months that passed, Alex' social status within the clan had changed greatly.

Ever since his performance in the game four months ago, Alex had been repeatedly called up by the other children for basketball matches. Many of these involved competing against Du'husry and his team, which formed a rivalry of sorts between him and Alex. An important upcoming event was the promised trip to the nearby colony for Alex, where Firi'sry, H'nuptec and Sru'sky would tag along out of shared curiosity, or concern for the family's safety.

Recently though, the rivalry between Du'husry and Alex had taken a different turn, when Du'husry had pulled an insidious prank on Alex. Simple put, Du'husry turned a simple latrine trip into a rather painful experience for hours after Alex finished, as he replaced the normal leaves with a toxic variety, notorious for causing severely swollen and itchy skin where it touched.

For a week now, Du'husry had been parading around the other kids, retelling the story of Alex's misfortune, unaware that justice would be served against him. For a week since Alex had been victimized, he had been secretly planning a revenge prank against Du'husry, where an equal or greater amount of embarrassment on Du'husry's part, and delight on Alex's part, would be administered.

As Alex laid the supplies he would need on the ground in front of him, he mentally checked his list.

_One long rope._

_One short length of string._

_Two direhorse saddle hook rings._

_One of Du'husry's sets of clothing. [basically a jockstrap looking object, and Alex was quite quiet in getting it]_

_One pulley and wheel._

_A stack of rocks as counterweight._

Unbeknownst to Alex, H'nuptec was watching with curiousity, as he had never seen his son use hunting equipment before. Wanting to know why there was a sudden change of routine, he walked towards Alex, and inquired politely: "_What are you doing with this equipment? You seem very ready to use it for something." _Mildly surprised that his father was watching, Alex continued to prepare his items whilst replying: "_I'm just remembering how to use them before I go and put them into practice." _

Confused, H'nuptec stated: "_But children your age are not allowed to hunt out there, it is too dangerous!" _Turning around briefly, Alex looked at his father, and whilst smiling evilly, he said: "_Who said my target was out there?" _On that note, Alex gathered the supplies onto the carrier he always had on his back, except for the pile of stones, which he began to drag up the spiral of the tree's centre, leaving a confused H'nuptec behind.

_Now we even the score. _As Alex dragged the rocks up the slope, he set his mind to his schedule, and to when Du'husry will be within striking range.

Later that day, the clan was beginning to gather for the evening meal. As she went to join her family, Sru'sky was wondering where her brother had been today. _He normally comes out more than he did today. And when he did, he seemed to watch Du'husry a lot._ As Sru'sky sat down next to Firi'sry, both noticed H'nuptec approaching, wearing the same puzzled expression he had bore since a talk with Alex earlier that day.

As the clan were talking amongst themselves, whilst the first round of food was finishing cooking, none noticed Du'husry walk towards Alex in a corner. What some of the kids noticed was that Du'husry was covered in mud, courtesy of a particularly heated basketbsll match, which sent him sprawling into the mud on the pitch, created by recent rainfall. Alex had taken up the position for the week as a helper with the clan clothes washing. As Du'husry approached Alex, he announced: "_I need a clean set of clothes for the meal, I cannot show my face looking like this_!" Whilst gesturing to his mud coated body. Wearing as best a neutral expression as possible, Alex handed Du'husry one of his garments that had come out of the washing, saying: "_Here, take these. Your clothes are so unpleasant to wash, I'll be glad to see the back of them." _As Du'husry swiped the garment from Alex, he peeled of his now mud caked set, dropping them unceremoniously in front of Alex, whilst Alex himself thought: _The lack of concern over nakedness in the clan helps with my plan._

As Du'husry turned around after placing on his garment, he did not notice quickly enough that Alex clipped two large hooks onto the back of his garment, nor that Alex moved his foot off part of a rope connecting to the hooks on Du'husry's garment, leading to the ceiling.

Within a second of Alex's hook trick, and releasing the rope, a long, feminine scream could be heard from the corner of floor. This caught the attention of the clan quickly enough to see Du'husry rise to the ceiling, stopping 15 feet above, dangling painfully as his jockstrap[no other way to describe it] dug into his groin. Only those familiar with human pranks knew what had happened.

Du'husry had been given an atomic wedgie of epic proportions.

As the clan looked in shock at the sight, what caused it became known. A bag of rocks, weighing more than Du'husry, was attached to a rope, slung over a pulley high above on another floor, an dangling down pulling on the back of Du'husry's jockstrap, which held together as it was out of a strong leathery material. As the clan was silently processing this image, only two people were making a noise. Du'husry, who was now loudly whimpering in pain, and Alex, who was now in pain by laughing so hard, not bothering to claim innocence over the prank, as it was totally worth any punishment.

It must be noted that the rivalry between Alex and Du'husry was known well in the clan, the same with the prank played on Alex a week ago. To those in the crowd who put the pieces together, it was realized that this was justice in a sense. Now normally Na'vi culture would discourage laughing at others' misfortune, but in this circumstance, it was partially justice, and also just too damn funny not to laugh.

Soon, at most the clan was laughing, some booming and holding their sides, others in the least failing to keep internal snorting from giving away their entertainment. The exceptions to the entertainment it provided were Du'husry's parents [Of course. I mean what parents laugh at their own child's expense, at least at the moment it happens, they could still laugh later], Du'husry himself, who by now was being pulled down and unhooked, and some of Du'husry's friends and fans, despite them letting loose a few laughs and snickers whilst they helped him.

Walking forwards, Firi'sry and H'nuptec found their son, who by now was clutching his chest as the pain from his laughter grew. The look of pained disdain that Du'husry shot at Alex only made him laugh harder, if that was possible, and caused Alex to joyfully shout: "NOW WE'RE EVEN DU'HUSRY, HA HA HA HA, IF SOMEONE ENDED MY LIFE NOW, I'D STILL BE LAUGHING, HAAA, HAAA, HAAA!

After taking five minutes to calm down, unaware of and even if he did, uncaring, of his parents presence, Alex could once again talk without bursting into laughter.

At least, he tried not to.

As Alex ate with his parents, he noticed the looks his parents and sister were giving him. Firi'sry was holding a neutral expression, and Sru'sky was showing a look of worry for her parents, and H'nuptec was boring into Alex with a deadpan serious look. Unfortunately, the snorting of upcoming snickering and laughter gave away the façade, as Alex began to laugh once again, seeing that his actions even entertained his parents.

Upon their son/brother bursting out laughing again, Firi'sry, H'nuptec and Sru'sky began to laugh their heads off also. And like dominos, the clan followed suite.

The evening meal passed with people stifling giggles and laughs, but bouts would break out again as aspects of the 'incident' were retold. It was apparent that Alex would have at least one story to his name in the clan.

However, as Alex settled down to bed, he remembered a secondary reason as to why he launched the prank today. _I did it today, so I could do it before we set off for the colony tomorrow. What better way to leave the clan than in joyous laughter. Its one more thing to talk of on the trip._

Dreaming of the day's entertainment, and tomorrow's journey and its destination, Alex drifted off to sleep, confident that Du'husry would try to pull another prank on him any time soon.

**23****rd**** November 2889.**

Dawn arrived, and the first light of morning showed Alex and Sru'sky stifling yawns and stretching muscles to awaken, as they stood idle as their parents prepared their two _Ikrans _for the trip. Normally _Ikrans_ could carry only one Na'vi, but due to their small size, Alex and Sru'sky could sit in front of one of their parents on their respective mounts. Already, both children chose who they went with. Alex chose, because Sru'sky did not mind which she went with, and she ended up going with her father, as Alex simply did not like the look his father's mount gave him when he was near. Alex chose to ride with Firi'sry, firstly due to her _Ikran _being less intimidating, and the fact that she knew Alex, as she was there when Alex had been rescued from the pod, and so trusted him in return.

As Alex stepped towards the Flying mount, his mother already bonded with her, she gently nudged him with her head, a sign of affection. "She likes you." Said Firi'sry pointed out, as she patted her mount's flank. Quickly getting on, with a helping hand from Firi'sry, Alex was now sitting in front of Firi'sry on top of a Mountain Banshee. Feeling mesmerized by this experience, Alex saw that H'nuptec, his scary _Ikran_ and Sru'sky were ready to fly. With a nod to his mother, Alex braced himself for takeoff.

_This is it._

As the creatures dived, Alex felt himself become suddenly lighter, and let out a yell of surprise. The lightness was replaced by strain as the Banshees pulled up to level flight, and normal weight was restored. After a few minutes of calm flight, Alex felt comfortable enough to look around, and not just focus on staying on. He looked behind, and saw the ever shrinking Hometree, the only home he ever knew. Seeing what he was looking at, Firi'sry reminded Alex: "_We will be back in a few days time." _Thanking her for the reassurance, Alex looked around, taking in the dense jungle canopy, the winding river in the distance, the plains below where herds of Sturmbeasts and Hammerheads roamed. Off to the left, the roar of a waterfall formation of incredible size loomed, filling the air with a massive cloud of spray.

Whilst looking, Alex saw H'nuptec's Ikran just of to the right. On board, Sru'sky looked at Alex and beamed, whilst pointing out sights to her father.

This continued for the entire flight, which lasted itself for 3 hours, after which a stop for a meal and break for both riders and mounts was taken. And hour later, the group set off again, and for another 3 hours flew to the nearby colony.

By now, the colony was just obscured by a low cloud, then a large mountain. As the two Banshees rounded the corner, a vastly different place to Hometree was revealed.

Amidst a light fog, a sprawling metropolis of urban structures carpeted the area for roughly 15 square miles. In making the most of available space, the city had been built upwards as much as possible. This was due to laws set out when the Na'vi became fully self governing, during the mid 2200s. The humans, and all races, were leased land on the planet of Pandora where development could take place. On this land colonies were established, and later expanded. Outside the land leased, only transport networks were allowed, and had to have as little environmental impact as possible.

In full perspective, within 800 years, Pandora had been dotted with no more than 12 colonies, all of relatively large size, and connecting them on ground level were networks of roads, railways or Maglev, all running alongside each other, to minimize ecology removal and land purchase costs. The colonies mainly gained income from scientific research, tourism of Pandora [with emphasis on damaging the environment as little as possible], medicine and food [the Pandoran biosphere yielded many qualities within its life that provided medical breakthroughs, and plants/animals native to the planet were grown or raised here for food to cut down on transport costs].

When humans first returned to Pandora in the late 22nd century, the RDA had returned to claim their hold on Pandora's unobtainium again, but was defeated again by the natives. Alongside this defeat came the RDA's colonization of Keletari, a nearby moon that also had unobtanium, but no biosphere. With a joint effort, aided by Na'vi flora and fauna transported, and practised terraforming on Mars in Sol, Keletari was terraformed into a planet slightly similar to Pandora, though not as diverse in life, but it still had a breathable atmosphere for the Na'vi. During the terraforming also came the medical treatment for humans to breath the Pandoran atmosphere normally, which helped to aide relations, as the two races could now talk 'face to face'.

This particular colony had the name of St. Augustine, named in honour of one of the leading human scientists during the first few decades of Human contact on Pandora. This particular colony was the oldest on Pandora also, because St. Augustine once went by a different name, one it regained temporarily when the RDA briefly retook it.

Hell's Gate

As the pair of _Ikran _circled overhead, gradually dropping to the ground in the city below, Alex was speechless by the sheer difference of this part of Pandora. Although Alex had learnt much already about the developed colonies and some of the worlds, he had only learnt the basics, and nothing prepared him for the real thing.

Screeching as they touched down, the two _Ikran_ finally landed on the concrete surface that marked an area outlined for aircraft. The two creatures then bent low, to allow their riders to disembark. Thankfully, having an a half sized extra passenger was not too strenuous for the Banshees, as they did nor seem exhausted, merely tired from a long flight. The same couldn't be said for the passengers.

As Sru'sky eagerly jumped off her father's _Ikran, _she felt her feet hit the floor beneath her, and she noted two things about it. First, it was very smooth, with only rippling cracks marking the otherwise smooth, stony ground.

Second, it was quite hot.

In a display of surprise, Sru'sky danced briefly before settling down to take the pain, exclaiming: _"The ground burns!" _Unlike their daughter, both Firi'sry and H'nuptec had heard of how the ground in the colonies can heat up under the sun, and had braced themselves for the hot surface. Alex, despite not knowing about concrete and how it coped under the sun, prepared himself upon seeing what the ground caused to Sru'sky's feet.

After releasing the _Ikrans_ to be called later, and one slightly agonizing walk across the landing zone later, the family found themselves under shade, conversing with a local Na'vi, who saw this happen whenever tribe people came to visit. As it happened, in exchange for letting the colony be here, one service provided was a clothing rental service, which made navigating the cities more comfortable. After a few minutes, the three Na'vi and human were walking towards the centre of town with a guide, now having picked clothes to wear over their normal tribal garments.

When their guide arrived, Alex had been almost ecstatic to see another human at last. After a brief introduction, in which Alex learned her name, Diane, a 36 year old human female, and a run through of what the day would be like, the group set off. As it would turn out, Diane was amused by the curiosity of all four of her tourists, and was happy to answer any questions with either a tour or a simple worded answer.

Along the tour, the sheer differences between the world the Omaticaya lived in, and that of the colonies and beyond, were shown to be staggering. Food was grown in buildings where no soil was needed, where the plants grew in liquids and took in sunlight through either manmade lights or the sun [hydroponic skyfarms, look it up, it will solve the upcoming food crisis], and meat was synthetically grown, like plants, to any shape or type you wanted, no killing necessary [meat tissue culture, again look it up]. Transport was provided by machines which could pull loads heavier than a hammerhead, or go faster than an _Ikran_ could fly. Anything that was needed was made in factories that could sculpt any item if the right materials were provided [stereoligraphy/advanced 3D printing], and some factories could turn any material into another type of material [matter transformation, similar to one part of Star trek replicators].

In addition, the energy needed to drive all the technology in the cities came from all sorts of ways. Energy from sunlight, absorbed by special glass [transparent solar panels], advanced water mills in the river [tidal power], structures that resembled water mills in the air [wind turbines], and most impressive of all, a form of energy factory that used the same method to make energy that causes stars to shine [fusion].

By mid afternoon, the group had settled down in a restaurant for dinner, one of the last stops on the tour. This was where Alex would encounter what he saw as the most impressive feat of space civilizations.

As the group settled down in their table, Diane called up a server for drinks. As he sat down, Alex expected another human or Na'vi to come, but boy as he wrong. Within a minute, their server arrived. In a monotone voice, it asked:

"Good evening diners, may I ask what drinks you would like?"

Diane had asked the family in advance what they would like, going through the selection with them, and was now forwarding their choices to the server. As Alex stared at the server, he couldn't help but be shocked slightly by the fact that it had been made of metal, and had nothing on it that would suggest it was a living thing.

Obviously seeing the puzzled faces of all four of her tours, Diane explained: "He's not a living thing, he a robot, built by people to serve people." Looking to Diane, mixed thoughts went through each of the family members' minds.

H'nuptec: _How did that thing talk to us like any other person if it does not live?_

Firi'sry: _Amazing, it is like life built by people._

Sru'sky: _That thing was quite polite, he must have had a good upbringing. _[Yes, a robot never breaks the rules it is set]

Alex: _It always does as it is told? Can it not choose of its own accord?_

After the drinks arrived, and the food had been ordered, Alex asked Diane about the server and robots: "When you said it was built to serve people, can it not go against people if necessary?" Diane let out a slight chuckle at this question, and decided that she would explain robots in general to all of them.

"Robots are like a form of life people created, some robots are simple minded, carrying out simple tasks, some robots are made to be more complex and smarter. That server was quite simple minded, it does what it is told, when it is told, and It can't think for itself. It was made to carry out a simple task, nothing else. I guess you could compare it to the seed of a tree, which besides delivering the key to a new tree, cannot do anything else." Understanding so far, all four patrons nodded. It was Sru'sky that pried further: "What about the robots that are smarter?" Diane smiled at the 10 year old child's curiosity: "There are some robots that are made to be smart, to do many, many different tasks. Some robots are designed to be smarter than people, but only to act as ways for people to solve problems more quickly. Other robots can do anything a person can do, and many robots can learn from experience like all of us."

Diane finished her explanation just in time, as the food arrived, brought by the server that had sparked this conversation. As the group was quite likely not to visit again for a while, all four people had decided to try something that was hard to come by at hometree. Alex eagerly ate his thanator steak, a rarity in the Omaticaya [for obvious reasons, lats person who tried to kill one was found spread in pieces in a clearing]. Sru'sky went for a Yerik fillet, and Firi'sry and H'nuptec went for a sturmbeast soup, whilst Diane wnet for what was apparently her usual, _Ikran_ slices [H'nuptec whispered to Firi'sry not to think of this on the flight back, lest they be thrown off midflight as their mounts may panic at the thought of being eaten].

The tour finished with a trip back towards the same concrete area where Alex, Sru'sky, Firi'sry and H'nuptec had landed. As they walked, Diane pointed out different spacecraft sitting idle on the ground, refuelling and resupplying, which Diane compared to food for vehicles and anything to transport. A lucky sight came by as one particularly large freighter took off from the landing deck. As Diane pointed out, and all four noticed, no wings or jets used much on takeoff. Diane explained the basics of antigravity. All Na'vi knew about basic physics such as gravity, and Diane stated that all spacecraft and many aircraft had technology in them that allowed them to negate gravity's effect on itself, meaning it only had to use thrust from its engines to propel in a direction, and not to also lift its weight. This allowed much quieter takeoffs, much longer flight time, and much larger ships to be able to land on planets.

This visit to the spaceport reminded Alex of how much more to the world there was than just Pandora. His thirst for knowledge and exploration only fuelled Alex's long settled goal of escaping Pandora. As a human, one particular world he wanted to visit was the homeworld of his species, which was incidentally the world he was actually born on, before the fateful voyage that ended in his permanent separation from his biological family.

As the day drew to an end, Alex once again found himself at the concrete clearing where the _Ikran _landed, and was distracted by deep thought to pay attention to the clothing rental person, as he thanked Alex's parents for choosing his stall.

_This kind of living area is where I would have grown up had my parents not been killed. This colony is also placed where humans first settled on this world._

_This world of technological wonder is the legacy of my species. If not for humans, the Na'vi would have still been fully tribal. This is where my destiny once lay, until fate intervened._

_Maybe my destiny is still among this part of Pandora, or out among worlds of similarly advanced places. All I know is that at some point in the future, I shall have to leave this world to pursue my purpose._

_My destiny lies among the stars._

For six hours the _Ikran _flew through the night, saving time by taking a shorter break, as the riders did not want to linger in the jungle for long at night, when predators were most active. The trip itself was quiet, as the darkness robbed the riders of the sights of before, and the tour of the colony had tired them all out.

Upon arrival back at hometree, the family made their way to the clan meeting area, eager to grab some food before sleeping. Although the clan members were curious about what their chief hunter H'nuptec, his mate and children saw at the colony, they left asking for a story for the next day, as they saw how tired they were, and respected their wishes of going to sleep soon.

After a five minute meal, Alex was seen dragging his feet up the spirals inside hometree, following in the shadow of Firi'sry, as his family made their way to their respective hammocks. As the group dispersed to their hammocks, Alex saw Du'husry talking to his friends at the bottom of another set of spirals leading up. Deciding to have some fun before sleeping, Alex walked stealthily towards the area his rival stood in, and then made a pass by Du'husry's group, flashing a devious grin as he walked by. Remembering the prank the night before, Du'husry's face turned angry and fearful simultaneously, knowing that he could not get revenge now as the adults were watching.

Satisfied for now with the silent taunting, Alex succumbed at last to his exhaustion, and walked over to the branch above his hammock. Dropping down into his woven sack, with a grace acquired over years of routine, he slowly closed his eyes, dreaming of worlds that he knew he would see in the future one way or the other.

As promised to himself, and hoped by his mother Firi'sry, Alex would get off Pandora at one point. However, the circumstances that would involve leaving could not be more different than intended. It was planned that a trip off world for Alex would come when he became old enough to get a proper job in a city, at age 18. Before this Sru'sky would have completed and hopefully passed her trials to become an _Ikran makto, _which Alex would be around to provide any assistance for, and also train at the same time.

As luck would have it, Alex would leave Pandora, with Sru'sky in tow, rather earlier than either would have liked. And their upcoming, sudden departure from Pandora would be the beginning of separate journeys for both of them. These journeys would be together or diverge at some points, but would always be connected in one way or another, as their journeys would also be to numerous other peoples' journeys.

It would be the journeys these people embarked upon, and the links between each journey, that would shape their lives forever.


	5. Chapter 4

**Into the Darkness chapter 4,**

**Survival.**

**14****th**** February 2894.**

[News broadcast on large TV screen, in city centre of Keletari's capital city]

"We now go live to the scene of the carnage, as we question locals of Vera 17, in the Gliese 581 system, about the raid that recently ended with a massacre and more unusual kidnappings."

A male humanoid with pointed ears and a unibrow, speaking with a notably emotionless voice, appears on screen, and questions a human mother and her child.

"Now tell me, what happened here?"

"It was like any normal day, and I was just about to leave to buy some food for dinner tonight, when I heard screaming coming from down the lane. I looked there, and saw people in armour, firing their guns and shouting, chasing a crowd of people. They were grabbing people from the crowd, and beating them until they were unconscious. They kept saying that they were just what their employers wanted. It was horrible, they were killing anyone who fought them if they weren't picked. I saw a group of boys cut down by laser fire, and out of eight, only one was taken alive."

The camera flashes to a reporter standing in a ruined street.

"During the raid, fifty-four people were killed, with their bodies left on the street. The raid also involved the kidnapping of 16 people, further adding to the list of kidnappings that this mysterious organization has been involved with. Authorities still have no leads on the identity of this group, but apparently all effort is being made to do so. This is Y'silliard Remslay, TGN news."

[Omaticaya hometree, Pandora]

Dawn signalled a new day in hometree. And the light of the day shone down to reveal some of the clan members already hard at work in whatever task they were doing. The hunting parties were preparing their weapons and mounts, weavers wove any material needed for clothing, the Ole'tycan met with the elders to discuss intertribal relations, and the Tsa'hik prayed silently to Eywa, seeking wisdom from her to aide the people for the day.

Whilst this all went on, a moderately sized group of natives were at the target practice site, at the base of hometree. This party consisted of youths, in their mid teens, preparing for the upcoming _Ikran_ trials once they turned sixteen. Amongst this group stood two individuals, one who stood out as being the most skilled out of all of the potential hunters, and one who just stood out completely.

Alex grunted as he loosed the arrow, having exerted much strength just to pull the bow back. Unfortunately, the Na'vi did not provide human sized bows, or arrows. As a consequence, Alex had to choose to either adapt to a Na'vi bow, or construct a custom bow that was easier to carry, but fired just as well. Alex had taken the choice of a personal bow, believing the extra strength to use a bow of its size was a sacrifice to commit if he wanted to be just as effective as any other Na'vi archer.

Unfortunately, Alex was only adept at bow making, let alone completely unusual, smaller designs. As a result, his bows often broke, and needed replacing or fixing. Each time a bow was fixed, it did luckily last longer than the last every time. However, as a bitch slap from fate, Alex's bow had broken two days before, and he had to now use a full size bow, which was hard to pull **and** hold properly.

Naturally, Sru'sky had shown no problems with using a bow, as it had been designed for her kind from the start. As she was more anatomically suited for the full size bows, and did not spend as much time repairing or making custom bows, her skills considerably exceeded those of Alex.

Both teens had the luck of learning from two skilled hunters, as Firi'sry had been happy to teach, as she spent less time hunting now and more time weaving, cooking, singing, and helping the Tsa'hik in spiritual matters. H'nuptec also helped, though not as often, as his skill, ironically, kept him busy in serving the clan.

Physically, both children had grown considerably, both in mind and body. Sru'sky had begun to grow into a fine young Na'vi woman. Her figure had filled out nicely, as she had realized when she noticed the attention she garnered from other Na'vi males her age. She had grown taller, reaching just 1 and a half foot short of her parents, who were still 10 feet. What also grew was her persona, with her kind hearted will and helpfulness being admired throughout the clan. H'nuptec commented regularly that Sru'sky was the spitting image of her mother when she was Sru'sky's age, and also commented on how Sru'sky would one day become a skilled warrior.

Alex on the other hand had matured greatly, but was still rather different. He had grown up to just under 6 feet, apparently in an attempt to catch up with his family as he jokingly stated [he would later discover that Pandora's lower gravity had helped his body grow taller]. His dark brown hair was still kept short for ease of care, and his muscular body had only grown. Despite being accepted more since nearly 5 years before, Alex had continued his morning exercise routine, though he had slightly eased up on it. Had he been in a Na'vi body, Alex would have being the strongest person physically. His stamina training allowed him to move at great speed, a skill which he saw as something he could do better than the Na'vi. He had become skilled at close combat, as his small size disoriented his opponents.

Mentally, Alex had become more human, developing a logical, planning approach to everything. Although retaining a sense of clan responsibility, in the form of selflessness, Alex probably had a stronger sense of self preservation than any other clan member. This logical approach made Alex more pessimistic, but did allow his intellect to grow, as he had said that another human had told him that only seeing the good things in life is only living half a life. If confronted with a dangerous situation, which Alex had luckily not come across yet, he would most likely weigh up the options quickly, and develop and carry out the plan with the most benefit for his own interests and that of others.

However, even an unusually hardy human body could not handle a Na'vi bow well.

As he pulled back another arrow, Alex glanced over the targets ahead. The others were progressing well, with most arrows near the bulls-eye. Sru'sky was the best, having gotten most of her arrows in the centre. Du'husry was on the left end of the firing row, and was eager to prove his skill by firing off the most shots. Though his shots did not hit as effectively as Sru'sky's he nevertheless did make more hits over a space of time. For obvious reasons, the number of arrows shot by Alex in one exercise was much lower than other Na'vi. However, what he lacked in speed, he made up for in accuracy, as he was matched, and sometimes surpassed Sru'sky, in this aspect of shooting, as more often his shots were nearer the centre of each target.

By mid morning, target practise was done. After two hours, Alex's arms were aching. The first hour was devoted to stationary target practise, whilst the second hour used moving targets hurled into the air by teachers, including Firi'sry. As usual, Alex had matched Sru'sky for best accuracy, but he had lost by far for most rapid shooting, which went to Du'husry. Already having seen enough of his borrowed bow for today, Alex thought of burning the object if shooting practise happened again today.

As Firi'sry walked away from the shooting range, she saw her two children, the light of her soul, walking towards her. A quick glance showed their thoughts. Sru'sky, smiling, slightly tired but pleased with her improving skils. Alex, scowling and wincing from his aching arms, pleased with his accuracy but annoyed with his lack of strength to fire. Knowing what each would ask for after such training, Firi'sry walked out to meet them.

"Come in my daughter, let us have a light snack, and Alex, you should come and rest your arms. They look as if you almost had them pulled out of their sockets." Firi'sry noticed a look of annoyance across Alex's face at this comment, visible by his twitching eye. Thankfully, seconds later, Alex sheepishly grinned at this, whilst he picked up the pace to keep up with his [technically] younger sister and mother[_Alex: Now I know what a dog feels like to its owners]_.

Two hours, one snack and one arm massage later, Alex was out with Sru'sky in the jungle, tracking down a yerik to kill as part of training. The key was to make a clean kill, with as little blood, struggle and sound as possible. At this stage, Alex was not skilled enough to do it alone, but he did help Sru'sky practise, by helping track down and locate the yerik. Each sibling had their own sensory strengths.

Sru'sky had more adept hearing than Alex, and could also smell things better. Alex was skilled in sight, which Firi'sry and H'nuptec said could help him if he became a long range hunter, mainly using a spear or bow and arrow[_Alex: one that fits me please, otherwise I may shoot someone else and claim it was the badly fitted bow throwing off my aim!]._ Another sense Alex excelled at was taste, which did help with hunting in that Alex could make out some tastes of animals [footprints, claw marks, _miscellaneous_], and could also provide entertainment with the clan by blindfolding himself and guessing what he is given to taste, most often correctly.

Both siblings were equal more or less in touch, as they could feel vibrations to detect incoming objects also. Unluckily for the pair of in training hunters, their training session was about to be cut short by a rare and dangerous event.

As Sru'sky bent down to smell the tracks of a Yerik, about four hours old roughly, she saw Alex begin to look out around the forest for any signs of a Yerik. _I do not see why Alex is not hunting in his own, not that I do not like his help, but he seems skilled enough to do it himself, and I would like to see how I do on my own too. _Quickly, Sru'sky bent over a new set of Yerik tracks, crossing the old ones. These were only a few minutes old, and the animal could be near. Sru'sky failed to see Alex look towards something in the distance in the clearing below, in the opposite direction. Suddenly, a faint rumbling bellow sounded from about half a mile away. Shrugging her shoulders at the disturbance, Sru'sky thought to herself:_ Must be that Sturmbeast herd from below, probably just a dominance battle. _

Abruptly, Alex tapped on Sru'sky's shoulder, and gestured to down the hill, a look of panic on his face…

Becoming convinced that they had lost the Yerik, hat being hours behind it, Alex began to look for a new target to kill. A sight caught his interest below in the valley. A herd of Sturmbeast, red and brown armoured rhino-like animals, were grazing by the river. As Alex watched the herd, he saw the bull, an abnormally large dark male, bellow in panic, and begin to run down the river. The rest of the herd followed suit. Wandering what could have scared such a heard, Alex looked to the jungle behind the herd to see a fast moving rustle in the canopy. _Only one animal moves that fast with so much destruction._

_Palulukan. _Thanator

Absolutely terrified with the prospect of encountering Pandora's ultimate land predator, Alex calmed down enough to prevent himself from running, and began to turn to Sru'sky to alert her. However, as he began to turn, he did a double take when he saw the panicking Sturmbeast herd turn towards both of them, running up the clearing that lay between them and themselves. This sight, added onto the Thanator skidding around the corner, would have caused any normal person to literally soil himself in panic, and yet despite experience with dangers before, Alex thought simply to himself, before succumbing to hysterics: _Screw this, I'm leaving now!_

Forgoing all ideas of silence while hunting, he noisily fled to Sru'sky, and tapped her on the shoulder frantically, and pointed a trembling finger towards the oncoming chaos. Not waiting for her, Alex began to sprint back to hometree, adrenaline acting like a jet's afterburner to his stamina. Not ten seconds later, Sru'sky was running beside him, and they had already sprinted a quarter of a mile by the time the herd came to the top of the ridge.

Behind them, the bellows of the panicking herd became clearer as the gap between it and the fleeing siblings became smaller. In panic, both Alex and Sru'sky were pushing themselves to run as fast as possible, to reach the bend where a passage into the forest awaited. The pair had followed their hunt through a game trail in a small canyon. As a consequence, they now had to run the length of it again, until the start of it opened, where they could run up a strong tree to safety. In the meantime, vine covered rock acted like a corridor, with death closing in on them.

In their bid for survival, Alex and Sru'sky were moving like a high speed train, barrelling their way through the narrow canyon, their speed partially due to the relatively smooth surface of the game trail they now fled on. As the pair ran, one of them noticed something strange that was happening. Whilst running, Sru'sky worried over what had spooked Alex so, as this did not seem the panic that came with a simple stampede. As she ran, she was thinking: _Why is he so worried over a sturmbeast stampede, he could have just moved into the bushes. Something must have been coming towards us that was even worse. _Glancing down at her human brother, Sru'sky saw him glance behind his back at the oncoming herd. For a few seconds, his face was staring in fearful expectancy, until a look of primal fear overcame him. What happened next would shock any Na'vi person.

Alex outran Sru'sky.

Without knowledge of what prompted him to run like this, Sru'sky simply stared dumbfounded at her brother, whilst she continued at her not as fast, but still frantic pace. Sru'sky let fly a shocked exclamation: "_How in Eywa's name did you learn to run like that!"_ Seeing Alex still drawing further ahead, she heard him shout back: _"Who cares, if you don't speed up, it will get you!" _Confused, Sru'sky looked back at the herd chasing them, and noticed the herd slowing at the back rather violently.

"SRU'SKY, RUN! A PALULUKAN, IT SET THE HERD OFF! RUUNN!" This sentence left Alex's mouth just as he reached the end of the canyon. Instantly rounding the corner, he saw what he had hoped for. A rather old, but strong tree stood just 20 metres away. It was rather wide, and was about 100 metres tall, and had a platform of sorts halfway up. _Perfect, see it get up there._

Making sure Sru'sky survived too, he peered round the corner, just in time to see a nightmarish sight. Sru'sky was barrelling towards him, just about to turn the corner. As she reached the corner, the Thanator broke through the lines of the Sturmbeast herd, ripping aside their massive bodies with an unnatural ferocity. Its eyes were searching around the clearing, looking for easy targets from the herd it had chased.

It looked to the canyon's end.

It saw a blue Na'vi foot round the corner.

It smelt the scent of two creatures, one a Na'vi, the other a strange Alien smell.

It charged, consumed by hunger, ready to feast.

The next minute happened slowly for Alex. As his sister rounded the corner of the canyon, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the Thanator looking at Sru'sky's briefly visible ankle, and for a moment met its vicious eyes with his own. As it began to charge, Alex pulled Sru'sky hard, sprinting towards the tree he had spotted. As they reached the tree, Sru'sky instantly began to climb. Alex waited just one second until he began to climb. As he started, the Thanator rounded the corner, sliding in the mud at the canyon mouth, slowing it slightly.

That delay saved their lives.

By the time the Thanator had reached the tree, both siblings were 25 metres up the tree, well out of reach of the jungle leviathan. As the creature collided with the tree, the whole structure shook, leaves rustling and falling to pepper the ground below. With an angry bellow, the creature began to attack the tree in frustration, enraged that two potentially easy meals had escaped. Realizing that the two were out of reach, the Thanator elected to feast on the two Sturmbeasts it had brought down, before going to sleep.

Alex's body began to relax at last, now that the encounter was over. As the adrenaline left his body, the aching of his muscles and fingers from the run and climb respectively became evident. Wincing, he looked over at Sru'sky. She had not seen the Thanator until she had climbed the tree, and was badly shaken from the near fatal attack. She shook all over, but Alex could not see any injuries, severe or minor. Both slipped into a solemn silence, listening to the forest, waiting until the sounds of the nearby feasting Thanator died down, and the sound of its departure, echoed across the forest.

For 1 hour, the two sat in silence, being as quiet and motionless as possible. At last, having heard the beast leave 15 minutes ago, Sru'sky broke the silence. "_The Palulukan has left, it no longer is here."_ Nodding in acknowledgement, Alex looked over towards the canyon opening, seeing no moving shadows, confirming there being no danger. Alex then asked: "_Now what?"_ Sru'sky thought for a moment: "_We should stay up here for another half hour, to be safe, and then we make our way back." _Alex voiced his agreement with another nod, now fully calmed down.

For another few minutes, Alex was still, trying to dull the pain that ravaged his body. _This hurts still. My exercise routines may be hard, but this was the hardest work I've ever done. _As Alex mentally subdued the pain, Sru'sky decided to make conversation: "_That is the fastest I have ever seen anyone run, how did you do it?" _Looking up in surprise at her question, Alex casually replied: "_I was scared to die, so I just ran as fast as I could. It must have been what humans call '_Adrenaline rush'. _Fear for my life drove me basically."_ Accepting this fact, Sru'sky asked another question: "_When you saw the herd, you saw the Palulukan from the beginning, right?_ Alex grimly nodded, wincing as another muscular cramp overtook him. Sru'sky asked a question out of slightly angered curiosity: "_Why did you try to leave me behind? I had to catch up with you. You would have left me to die?" _

Alex was outright shocked at this question. He was angry that his sister would think that he would abandon her, and sad that he had been to fearful for his own life to help her first. He told the truth: "_I was just too afraid to stand around talking. And I also knew that if I ran off, you would follow me and easily catch up with me. I am sorry if I offended you in any way."_ Alex bowed his head in shame, and tucked it between his knees. Sru'sky now felt ashamed, as she had saddened her brother with her misunderstanding. Tentatively, she crawled forwards, and wrapped Alex in a comforting embrace, and whispered: "_No, if not for you, I would not have escaped in time, and I would now be dead. You were just fearful, but you did help me in one way, I did run after you, to catch up and to flee the herd. Forgive me, I just misunderstood your methods."_

Whilst being warmed by his sister's body, Alex answered: "_When we return home, consider us both forgiven in each other's eyes." _As both huddled together for warmth, they set their sights on hometree in the distance, waiting for the half hour t be gone by, so they could go home.

By the time the evening meal started, Alex and Sru'sky arrived back at the Omaticaya hometree, now muddy, tired and still spooked from the Thanator attack. Both were too tired to notice the rapid approach of two Na'vi adults behind them. Firi'sry eagerly swept Alex and Sru'sky into her embrace, incredibly worried that the two had been lost, to the point that tears of joy now streaked down her face as she held them. "_Sru'sky, Alex, thank Eywa you are safe! We thought you had been killed, my heart was almost broken at the thought!" _Sru'sky reassured her mother "_We're fine, mother, we're fine." _And Alex remained silent in the embrace. As a Na'vi, Sru'sky recovered from such physical stress more quickly. Alex, in his human body, still was recovering, his silence showing his recovery and his ability to not care for much other than food and rest at that time.

When H'nuptec emerged from the crowd merely a minute later, he eagerly embraced Sru'sky, relieved that the light in his life was alive and well. As he embraced Alex, the warmth in his eyes cooled slightly, showing the favouritism he held due to species, although he still held Alex in high regard. Quite frankly, Alex for once did not notice this look, as he did not care about much for tonight unless it involved food and rest.

The clan quickly settled down, having heard of the stories each upcoming hunter/huntress had to share. The story they eagerly wished to hear was that of Sru'sky and Alex's encounter with a Sturmbeast stampede and the Thanator. The story was told only from Sru'sky, as Alex was under some physical strain from his torturous physical 'exercise' just a mere two hours before. Sru'sky recollected the hunt, saying that she was told of the stampede by Alex, but that he forgot to tell her of the Thanator in his panic [at which Alex merely grunted what sounded like a sorry through his full mouth]. What impressed the clan other than the Thanator was that Alex, of all people, had outrun one of the top upcoming Na'vi warriors. [Alex retorted: "_You would too if a Palulukan was chasing you through a canyon."]_. At the end of the story, where they hid while the beast fed, Alex had finished his meal, and had started to slowly limp up to his hammock on the upper levels. The clan finished their meal, and as they began to depart for sleep, they failed to see Alex collapse in exhaustion behind them.

After the embarrassing retelling of today's fiasco of a hunt, Alex had gotten up from his seat, and had began to limp painfully up to the sleeping area, his joints stiff from overuse in such a short time today. As he moved, he heard the clan begin to depart behind him. Simultaneously, Alex had been part way up the spiral branches, when he felt himself tipping forwards. He lazily thought: "_I guess the floor's as comfortable as a hammock."_ The moment he hit the floor, he was out for the night.

As H'nuptec helped Sru'sky up the spiral branches, Firi'sry followed behind them, thankful that both of her children were safe. As luck would have it, Firi'sry would meet Alex before getting to the sleeping levels tonight, in that she almost stepped on his deeply sleeping form on the branch. Staring bemusedly at the exhausted form of her human son, Firi'sry decided to take him to bed, something she had not done for a few years. Easily scooping his body into her arms, Firi'sry walked up the spiral branches, drawing some stares from clan people as the form of a Na'vi, holding the prone form of a human, that had escaped a Palulukan, passed by.

Within a minute, Firi'sry was laying Alex's unconscious form in his hammock. Sru'sky cracked open a sleeping eye from one hammock over, a smile gracing her face, realizing that Alex had fallen asleep before reaching here.

As his mother departed for her rest, Alex's dreams became plagued by the Thanator he so narrowly escaped, and the pain in his joints he that he felt at the time. Needless to say, Alex did not sleep easily that night.

**23****rd**** February, 2894.**

It had now been over a week since the Thanator encounter. Both Sru'sky and Alex had recovered from the ordeal, Alex having taken a full week, for physical and psychological, Sru'sky merely 4 days.

The previous day, Alex had tested himself with his usual exercise regime, which revealed that no lapse in physical ability came with his recovery. Although he was fine, his parents insisted at least one more day's rest, to which Alex was inclined to, as he could use a day off without injury or sickness being used to obtain it.

That evening, Alex decided to venture out to the base of hometree, returning any greetings that came his way along the trip down the tree. Ever since his near brush with death a week before, Alex had developed an even more analytical mindset, and would now consider the safety behind his choices even more so. He had been more reserved in his socialization, thinking to himself more often.

Alex sighted Sru'sky on the basketball pitch about 100 metres away, playing another game with her team against Du'husry's team. _Four years on, and the rivalry Sru'sky, her team and me against Du'husry and his team still lives on._ Reclining onto a seat on a fallen log near the pitch, under a large root from hometree, Alex began to watch the game, half focused on the play, but also lingering over the shapes of the clouds. _That cloud must be low, it is moving quite fast._

Sru'sky ducked as an opposing team member dove for the ball, and dribbled it towards the hoop before deciding to pass it along. As she watched, she saw the ball go sailing towards the hoop, only to bounce off the rim back to the ground, off the pitch. After calling it out, one of Du'husry's team went to retrieve the ball. As he walked towards the ball, Sru'sky noticed the wind had begun to pick up. The grass around the pitch swayed in the sudden gusts, and the noise of the wind was becoming louder. A scream echoed behind Sru'sky, as she turned to see her teammates looking to the sky and pointing, some stepping backwards in fear. Turning again, she saw Du'husry drop the ball as he stared open mouthed at a sight above, before breaking into a run towards hometree. Finally registering where the centre of attention was, Sru'sky looked to the sky.

Above, the source of the wind and roar became known. A large, metal aircraft, easily dwarfing a _Toruk_, was descending to the ground. It was a terrifying display. The vessel itself had razor like wings, swept back for speed, spreading like a shadow. The central mass of the ship was gigantic. A large, rectangular body stretched along the length of the vessel. Appendages rotated on the machine, glowing a vibrant red and blasting out gusts of wind and roaring like a Thanator. Suddenly, harsh, bright beams of light, penetrating the evening dusk, flew from the nose of the craft, sweeping over the plains until they came to rest on fleeing Na'vi teens and adults alike.

[On board unknown vessel]

As the pilot stood at the viewport, he asked in a language consisting of a series of growls and clicks: "_Report on progress of subject capture."_ An emotionless voice spoke to him in the same language, obviously computerized: "_Currently in subject selection phase. Beginning subject capture sequence in 30 seconds." _As this response was delivered, the being looked out at the plain and smiled evilly to itself: _Perfect, another delivery, and another paycheque for me in return._

[On ground level]

Alex had watched in horror as the spacecraft had descended from the cloud, a disguise to fool those watching, and then proceeded to shine down lights onto the Na'vi teens, having been playing basketball peacefully seconds before. Behind and above him, the screams of onlookers could be heard, as siblings, family and clan members in general watched in terror. Abruptly, the spacecraft opened a hatch on its underside, like the jaw of a predator, and released a dozen fast shapes towards the ground.

What Alex saw next startled him.

Apparently those that the lights from the ship shone on were left unharmed. Those who were not bathed in the spotlights were cut down as laserfire erupted from the shape, or were mutilated as the shapes pounced on them and employed the blades mounted on them. As the shapes moved towards Du'husry, and began dragging him towards some newly appeared ropes dangling from the ship, Alex saw the shapes in detail.

Metallic armour covered the torso and legs, and open circuitry glowed vibrantly, and an emotionless, flat red eye marked the source of their vision. _Robots, that act as warriors_. As Du'husry was dragged up a rope into the ship, the robots that had held him began to move towards Sru'sky, who had been also targeted by the ship. Her look of terror pierced Alex's heart, as he now began to think, whether to survive, or risk his life to save his sister.

Alex secretly still felt guilty about near abandoning Sru'sky to the stampede and Thanator a week before, and felt that he owed Sru'sky. _I will not leave my sister again!_ Throwing caution to the wind, Alex charged towards Sru'sky.

Firi'sry watched with panic as she saw her son charge towards the beings who now held Sru'sky. She had seen just moments before of how these creatures had mercilessly slaughtered over two dozen Na'vi at least, most not even adults, and had proceeded to capture a few also. Du'husry was now captured, along with over 5 others, and now Sru'sky, her only daughter, was about to join them. H'nuptec was busy rallying hunters towards the threat, eager to rescue the teens quickly. However, when Alex charged, Firi'sry saw the look of determination on his face, but more importantly, the spotlight that shone on him as he emerged into the open fields where the horror was taking place.

[On board vessel]

The on board computer stated: "_Additional subject specimen detected emerging from tree, species human. Subject matches requirements of contractor, begin capture sequence._ The pilot looked on in interest: _A human, amongst the Na'vi? Interesting. However, it changes nothing."_

The robots suddenly changed tactics for capturing Sru'sky. It took two of the robots to take a struggling Na'vi onto the ship, so their onboard processors calculated a way to capture her without her struggling.

One of the robots quickly struck Sru'sky on the head. This caused her to fall unconscious. Simultaneously, the other robot released Sru'sky for the other to take to the ship, and turned its attention to a rapidly charging Alex. Over the roar of the vessel's engines, Alex's feral roar of rage could be heard, as he jumped towards the assailant. Colliding with the hard metal armour, Alex rolled away from the downed robot. Determined to strike quickly, Alex ran towards the robot, hoping to destroy its head. However, the speed of the robot's recovery astounded Alex. As he had charged, the robot assailant had regained a standing position, and had positioned itself to deliver a knockout blow to Alex's head, as he flew towards its outstretched fist without being able to avoid it.

The moment fist and head met, Alex's mind exploded in a whirlwind of extreme, brief pain, and then faded into the blackness of unconciousness.

Having subdued the human subject, the AR-98 unit grabbed its ankle and dragged it towards the last rope beneath the ship. Tying it to the rope's harness like with the other subjects before it, the AR-98 grabbed onto the human's rope as it rose into the cargo bay of the shuttlecraft. The ship made a sweeping arc around hometree, closing its cargo doors as it turned, sealing its living cargo inside, and leaving a massacre behind it. Before a response could be mounted by either the tribe or the galactic civilizations on Panodra or Keletari, the shuttlecraft had left Pandora's gravitational influence, and had engaged its superluminal drive, vanishing almost instantly, as if it never existed amongst this section of space. Like with many systems before, the same mysterious group had kidnapped locals from the system, and left a massacre in their wake of those not 'chosen' for their purpose.

Back on Pandora, a chief Na'vi hunter embraced his weeping mate, as they looked up towards the sky, pleading to both their terrestrial mother deity and any deities out among the stars, wishing for the well being of their Na'vi daughter and human son, and that fate would return both home safely.


	6. Chapter 5

**Into the Darkness chapter 5,**

**Gameplay and revolution.**

**23****rd**** February 2894.**

A painful headache was what Alex first registered when he woke up.

As he regained his senses, details of the surrounding environment began to make themselves known to Alex. The smell of metal, the strange, thinner air that filled the space, the smell of fecal matter and body odour.

The sound of gentle crying feet from him.

As Alex opened his eyes, a sorrowful sight presented itself. In front and to his sides Na'vi teens were lying on the floor of a cramped room. Some were huddled next to each other in comforting embraces, others were clutching their legs in self reassurance, rocking back and forth. As Alex processed all this, something shook the room, causing some of the teens to cry out in fear. As he recover, another noise, a constant background noise reached Alex's ears.

Rocket engines.

More precisely, the sound that the engines of that ship that had arrived at hometree before Alex was knocked out while trying to rescue Sru'sky. _Sru'sky!_

Suddenly realizing he couldn't see his sister, Alex tried to get up to search the small room, but found himself being pulled back into an embrace he did not realize he was in at the start.

"_Alex! You woke up! I feared you were dead!" _Turning to the owner of the voice, Alex saw the intensely relieved face of Sru'sky, crying slightly as she cradled Alex in her arms. Realizing that he had his strength still, Alex climbed out of her arms, and cut straight to the point. "_What happened?" _Sru'sky looked towards the other teens in the room as she answered: "_We have been taken aboard their ship. They came about an hour ago, saying that we are going to be on their world soon. When they took us, you were unconscious, and that was 2 days ago."_ Shocked that the robot had put him out of action for 2 days, Alex absentmindedly placed a hand onto his forehead, which resulted in him retracting his hand and wincing in pain, as his fingers touched a rather large lump on his head.

Suddenly, another shock rocked the ship, this time a much larger, sudden one. This was followed by the engines cutting off. Cries of despair and worry echoed in the room, and Alex tried to maintain a calm composure. As suddenly as the shock came, so did the motion of the door opening outwards from the room violently. A being spoke in a language of growls and clicks outside, before another spoke to them in rough Na'vi:

"_Out of the cargo bay, now! Once out, follow me, or we will kill you!" _As Alex briskly exited the room, he saw who, or what, had just ordered them. Stood beside him was a roughly 6 foot tall being, sporting aggressive, reptilian features over its face and exposed body, with a scarlet-brown colouration. Its long snout was full of sharp teeth, potentially lethal teeth. Over most of its body, leather material coated its skin, often covered further with what resembled advanced armour, and numerous gadgets and equipment in different holders. Beside it stood a similar being, just a darker colour and slightly shorter.

And both beings were pointing guns at them.

Realizing the futile nature of fighting back, Alex decided to head towards the door, as directed. Behind him, the Na'vi prisoners followed suite. However, the last one out gave the lizard beings a fight, and resorted to punching the larger, lighter coloured one in the jaw. This earned a cry of pain, as the creature recoiled in agony. Within a second, the last Na'vi teen had turned to the second being, only to receive a loud, blast of condensed plasma to the head. The resulting shot incinerated part of the teen's forehead, and instantly killed him. With no regard to the body now slumping behind them, the guards continued to harry their quarry out of their ship.

Alex was the first to disembark, into a completely new world.

Outside, the glow from a single, large red sun illuminated the landscape. On this world, Alex felt slightly heavier, which hindered his movement slightly. Beyond him, a stretching metropolis of concrete and steel buildings shot skywards like mountains, with the blood red glow of the nearby star silhouetting them ominously. On the horizon, the surrounding natural landscape was an arid, rocky mountain area, with dark clouds surrounding the mountain peaks.

Alex was speechless. He had always wanted to visit a world off of Pandora one day, to see the sights. However, this was not how he intended to visit at all, as a prisoner, on a world and unknown amount of distance from home.

A quick jab to his back with a gun barrel reminded Alex to keep moving.

The group was forced to march up a series of ramps and walkways, being directed by one being in front, while being pushed forwards by the other at the back. As they marched, Alex looked at the motley group of kidnapped teens. Sru'sky obviously, was accounted for. How Alex wished she and him were not here now, and how he felt fearful of any plight that might befall them on this world. One face that Alex remembered seeing among the captured was Du'husry, not far behind Sru'sky. He was looking very traumatized, quite differing from his usual confidant, obnoxious demeanour. Unfortunately, Alex could only recognize one other Na'vi, a male teen called Ja'rale. Otherwise, the other 6 Na'vi were strangers, perhaps kidnapped from other clans, definitely not Keletari, as all were wearing tribal clothing of sorts.

As the column of prisoner teens rounded a corner, a large, desolate plaza came into view. As the group began to advance across it, their destination became visible. An absolutely massive building, not the tallest, but certainly the widest Alex had seen. From inside, as the group came closer, faint cheering could be heard from indoors. With another bark of command from their current keepers, Alex, Sru'sky, Du'husry, Ja'rale and the other Na'vi teens were ushered into the complex, through an entrance that had appeared from the side, blending in with the walls, hidden from view.

The group was led into a large, underground atrium, with concrete and steel walls and flooring clanking or banging as they walked. Eventually, the group was told to stop at a set of double doors. One of the guards went over to a nearby control console near the door, and punched one of the of buttons. Expecting the doors to open, Alex braced himself for anything. Although what the button did surprised Alex.

The floor began to lower.

A well hidden elevator platform had been where the group had been standing. The first guard had pressed the command to lower, whilst the other guard continued to watch the group from his gunpoint. The ramp lowered for near half a minute, an eternity to the group. As they finally stopped descending, the doors that had emerged level with them opened.

Beyond the set of doors, multiple species of all types criss-crossed an large hallway, all either walking or sitting in groups. Above them, on raised platforms, guards watched them with gun turrets at the ready. The prisoners, numbering at least one hundred in total, turned to look at the new arrivals, all eyes in the hall trained on the group of Teenaged Na'vi and single human now. The atrium had fallen silent.

As Alex looked to Sru'sky in worry, he felt himself shoved forward by a different guard, into the crowd of prisoners, however still grouped with the Na'vi teens still. Alex quickly went to Sru'sky and stood near her, just the fact that she was safe comforting him, as did the fact that he was safe comfort her in turn. As they recovered from the manhandling of themselves to this crowd, another being appeared above them, this one also a reptilian beast similar to Alex's height, but also draped in what looked to be more intricate armour and clothing. It spoke with a masculine voice, which Alex assumed meant it was male, as it addressed the prisoners in the atrium:

"_Attention to all captives_!" Whilst the lizard being spoke, his voice echoed across the room over an electronic broadcast system. To ensure all prisoners understood what he said, the broadcasts were announced in English, Na'vi and two other languages before the next lot of the speech was broadcast. "_You have been selected from amongst your homes to take part in a legendary set of competitions on the home world of the mighty Krilsask race_!" The announcer looked over the prisoners as he spoke: "_You were selected from your homes, as you would be most suited for participation in these competitions. Those who did not meet expectations under 'selection', were removed_." With this, Alex saw Sru'sky's face drop, as she remembered what happened to the other Na'vi teens, which he too remembered.

The being continued unhindered: "_During your time here, you shall take part in different competitions, in which you shall provide entertainment for the patrons who have come to watch your performance. The overall rules are simple! If you lose a match, you die. If you win a match, you advance. If you try to escape, you die. If the match ends in a draw, all participants, or teams, die. The rules of each type of competition shall be explained on your first entry into each relevant type. You shall be called up by name, where a tournament roster shall be decided as each name is called. Failure to turn up for a match is death. The first match today starts in 3 hours. That is all._" The Krilsask announcer turned to leave the podium, taking his companions with him, leaving only the doomed prisoners, now gladiators, in the hall, with only the guards as company.

"_I never thought it would end this way."_ As Alex spoke to himself, Sru'sky felt immense grief and panic building inside of her. Never before had such mortal peril been thrust upon them. Even the encounter with _Palulukan_ just a week before was nothing compared to this. As she observed, the other prisoners, besides the newcomers, possessed hardened looks, recently scarred bodies, and eyes that held signs of being witness to horrible sights. However, as she looked around, one pair of eyes amongst the crowd was trained on her.

Whilst Sru'sky looked over the crowd, she failed to notice one of the larger prisoners approaching. As he approached, his metallic footsteps alerted Sru'sky to his prescense, causing her to spin around to meet his gaze. However, as she turned to meet this prisoner, Sru'sky was shocked by what she saw. This prisoner was very bulky, and would have stood at an impressive height of nearly 18 feet tall, had he not been bending over slightly, which reduced his height to just 15 feet. Although this was still gigantic compared to Sru'sky's measly 9 foot, and Alex's even more measly 5 and a half foot. But what shocked Sru'sky most was what this stranger was.

Eyeing the prisoner from head to toe, Sru'sky saw a being in front of her who was entirely machine. Although Sru'sky had already seen robots before, she knew this one was different, as it was not built specifically for functionality as most robots were. This one had intricate, slightly aggressive looking armour plating covering its torso, legs and much of its arms. Below this, revealed circuitry and valves were visible, with gears moving and electronic glows and hums being slightly visible underneath the circuitry. Judging from appearance, it seemed the armour was like a set of clothing for the robot, something that protected a more delicate body underneath.

The being's feet were almost bird shaped, but more bulky, with wider areas underneath what looked like the toes and heels. Its hands were claw like appendages, extending quite far out, but ending in smooth, rounded ends on each digit. However, the head is what attracted Sru'sky's attention most. Atop a pair of heavily armoured shoulders sat a head, medium sized relative to its body size. Encircling it was a helmet of sorts, made of metal also, and where a mouth would normally be was a smooth, pointed plate. The eyes were most unforgettable though. Around the eyes sat thin metal appendages, which appeared to be placed there to more easily convey facial expressions. As she looked into them, Sru'sky became mesmerized by the sharp, blue light they emitted, a light just as grand as that of the tendrils on the Tree of Souls on Pandora, or even as sharp as a star's light. Around the blue light was a ring of very thin metal spikes, which rotated in a spiral whenever he seemed to focus his eyes.

Visibly smirking at Sru'sky, as she gaped like a fish, the robot let out a low, but amused electronic response.

"_Your mouth stays open for too long, than your tissues inside your mouth shall dry up, Na'vi_." Visibly shocked by the robot speaking Na'vi, Sru'sky stood her ground, and demanded: "_Who are you? And how do you speak my language?" _As he watched Sru'sky stand her ground, the robot gave a short round of booming laughter, which thankfully went unnoticed by the nearby prisoners. "My race has the unique ability to download information, such as languages, directly into out central processor's memory banks, the equivalent of your brain's memory. I can speak Na'vi, just as I can speak English as I am now. I learnt my native dialect, Cybertronian, during my years of education." Sru'sky was mildly puzzled by this robot, as she had never heard of Cybertronian before. Seeing her confusion, the robot suggested in Na'vi: "_Perhaps it may be best I provide an explanation to where I come from, in exchange for details of your life. I can also tell you how things work here, as I have already been here 3 standard days now." _Seeing no threat from this strange robot, Sru'sky accepted his offer/ Whilst finding a suitable place to sit on the floor, Sru'sky asked: "_What is your name?"_ The Cybertronian responded: "Trion".

The Na'vi and Cybertronian talked for about 30 minutes, during which time both had learned a considerable amount about each other. Sru'sky had told Trion of her life growing up in the Omaticaya, the situation with the colonies and the clans on Pandora. She told Trion of how Alex was her adopted brother, as his parents were killed by pirates nearly 15 years ago, to which Trion replied: "Such a tragedy, to be so young and to not have his birth parents, it is fortunate that your family found him." Smiling at Trion's sympathy, Sru'sky retold of how Alex had been sheltered for 10 years, while she had led a normal life.

A surprise occurred when Du'husry came over and joined them, apparently seeking familiar faces in the form of Sru'sky. After introducing Trion and Du'husry to each other, Sru'sky told Trion of their visit to a colony for the first time, and of the rivalry between Alex and Du'husry since back then, particularly the great prank Alex pulled on Du'husry at age 11. After his part of her story, she pointed Alex out in the crowd, as he was seen looking at the walls surrounding the hall. Trion shook his head, simply stating: "He's looking to escape, it won't work." Du'husry then interrupted, and asked: _"Where do you hail from, machine?"_ Frowning slightly at this designation, Trion started: "I am not just a machine you fool! I am a member of a race of robotic beings. In a simple term, we are life in a mechanical form. It demonstrates how life can take on almost unimaginable forms."

Realizing his regret for calling Trion a machine, Du'husry lowly muttered an apology, after which Trion continued: "I was born in the capital city of Cybertron, Tyber Pax. Cybertron is the home world of my species. It is a rocky world, no life as you know it, but there is life. Large cities cover the planet, and it looks like a jewel from space. I was raised by my parents, who were engineers. I went to a good tech school, and also graduated an advanced training programme for the military. I finished my education about two years ago, 25 years since I came online. So in your terms, I am 25 years old."

As he finished, Trion realized that someone had been watching and eavesdropping from in the crowd. As he turned to see who it was, Alex emerged from hiding.

Having just heard the talk on Trion's origins, Alex decided to ask Trion about their current situation. As he walked towards where Sru'sky, Du'husry and Trion were seated, Alex ran through what info he had heard from other prisoners and Trion's talking. _No way out. We're gonna die. All my friends are dead now. What happens to the last person standing?_

"What happens in these games?" Alex pitched this question to Trion, seeing as Trion had already been here three days. Letting out a rumbling sigh, He started again: "We are gladiators, we fight to entertain others. They don't care who dies or who lives. Out of these tournaments, only a handful ever survive each time, Just face it, it is a definite likelihood that one of us will be dead by the end of today." Looking amongst each other in fear, Sru'sky and Du'husry began to silently pray to Eywa for help. Seeking definite answers, an atheistic part of Alex's human nature broke the surface of his mind: "_Stop you fools, Eywa is too far to help, we're on our own!" _Du'husry merely snarled in response, but stopped praying anyway. Sru'sky stopped praying, but displayed some hurt in her eyes which prompted Alex to continue. "_I am sorry sister, but we must take matters into our own hands now._" Turning to Trion he decided to interrogate: "You said you've survived three days here already, care to explain how?"

Trion looked at the determined human in surprise, and thought to himself: _He wants to know how to survive here, knowing its impossible. What is he thinking? _Sighing loudly, Trion explained: "In the arena, teams or individuals fight each other. The losers are killed either in combat, or afterwards as punishment for losing. If the victors refuse to kill the losers, the victors die also. I had to kill every person who opposed me in these games." With a distant look on his face, he muttered: "The lives I took here now cause me unfathomable grief. What is worse is that eventually we will all die, as the eventual winner or winners are pitted against the arena champion, who is undefeated. The champion is one of the native species, and so is treated better. It is hopeless to try to win the tournament."

[2.5 hours later]

Overhead, a loud, ringing siren sounded. The signal for the first set of games today. Alex had been pacing around, and had jerked his head towards the source of noise, realizing how much time had passed. Sru'sky had been sitting near Du'husry, silently thinking of their fates, and Trion had retained his sitting position on the floor, obviously in a form of meditation.

As the alarm blared, an electronic voice sounded over an intercom system, addressing the prisoners:

"The following prisoners shall be called to the armoury platform. Hyebashria, Jerrochen…" As the names sounded, Alex, Trion, Sru'sky and Du'husry were hoping they weren't called: "Trion, Vladmira, Alex, Sru'sky, Quirinth, Du'husry."

Alex's heart was beating erratically at this point. Just three hours after arriving, and already he was basically marching to his death. Looking over at his sister, Alex could see that Sru'sky was visibly frightened, but was also occupied with comforting an utterly traumatized Du'husry. Trion on the other hand, looked to e saddened, but accepting of this fate. _To think that attitude may have come from only three days here,_ thought Alex.

As instructed, the eight unlucky contestants stepped onto the platform, with Trion being the largest on the platform by far. With the group assembled on the platform, the platform began to ascend, up a long, vertical shaft, towards what Alex thought was the armoury. As he tried to move his arm, he found that he was completely immobalized b some outside force. Seeing Alex's struggles, and that of the other new prisoners, Trion voiced: "Miniature tazer beams. No pain, but you can't move." Realizing that it was useless to struggle, Alex, and also Sru'sky and Du'husry relaxed on the platform, which was also slowing down near the top of the shaft.

The platform finally stopped, resting level with the floor of a large room, with walls covered in weapons of all varieties. With the tazer beams still on, none of the prisoners could move, which left them powerless as they watched the armoury 'outfitters' set to work. From the walls and ceiling, robotic arms and graspers began to move throughout the shelves of weapons, whilst optical equipment lowered itself in front of each prisoner, scanning a wide beam of red light up the height of each one's body. [An internal and external full body scanner].

Unbeknownst to the Pandora dwellers, the scanner was calculating the most suitable equipment for each prisoner. This scan was really needed mainly for newer 'recruits', as older prisoners could be reissued equipment. As the scanner completed its checks, the robotic armatures began issuing armour and weapons.

As the tools handed over weapons and strapped on protective clothing, the older prisoners looked comfortable with their weapons, due to their use of them already. Trion himself got what looked to be a very large sword, and a new weapon that resembled a gun, albeit a strange, LARGE gun. As the armature reached Du'husry, it strapped on a protective helmet, torso armour, with legging armour and shoulder pads also, and a set of boots to accompany it. He also received a weapon recognizable as a double set of wrist blades, long lethal blades used by the Na'vi clans already, although this set looked more intricate, as if it was hiding a hidden ability. His other weapon was a Na'vi sized rifle, a standard issue rifle, which would fire bursts of plasma bolts in threes towards a target at very high velocities.

As the arm reached Sru'sky, she too got shoulder armour, torso armour and legging armour, a helmet, and boots. Her weapons differed though. Sru'sky received what looked like an intricate staff, again hiding hidden abilities, and also a set of two smaller guns, that could be held one per hand. Small, plasma pistols, Na'vi sized of course, with semi automatic firing of plasma bolts.

Finally, Alex was last to be armed. He was handed a set of two swords, with handcuffs on each handle, to prevent loss of weapon. Along the edge of the blade however, was a groove of some sort, unusual for weapons like a sword. However, Alex's second weapon he instantly recognized. It was a grenade launcher. Simply put, it would fire large metal rocks at high speeds, which would explode one second after impact in a big bang. Tragically, this powerful weapon placed Alex at both an advantage and disadvantage. Positively, his weapon was much more powerful, which would help if he placed against a large opponent. On the negative side though, Alex was one of the few of eight contestants that had a weapon with limited ammo, as plasma weapons had essentially unlimited ammo, as they only had to cool for a time if they overheated. Also, Alex's weapon had a much slower firing rate, as only 4 shots could be loaded into the launcher in one go. _I need to make every shot count then._

Overhead on a projection screen, the matchups for the first competition were being decided. As the names were blurred while being shuffled, they were unreadable. However, when they settled, all four prisoners among the eight total [Alex, Sru'sky, Trion and Du'husry] wished that the matchups could be different. Apparently, the first matches were decided on species. Among the eight prisoners, two of four different species were present. Trion and Jerrochan were both Cybertronian, Sru'sky and Du'hsry were Na'vi, Alex and Vladmira were humans, and Quirinth and Hyebashria were both Predators. Each species member had been pitted against one another in the matches. This meant that while Alex would face a stranger, and Trion would face yet another opponent, Sru'sky and Du'husry, long time rivals but companions when needed, would face each other one last time. And at the end of this conflict, only one, or neither, would be alive.

[10 minutes later]

Sru'sky had been crying, knowing that she would have to kill a person she grew up with for nearly 15 years if she wished to survive. Du'husry was also sorrowful at this dilemma, and did not wish to hurt someone who he had not entirely befriended, but had respected. Alex was a miserable case, as he would have to watch helplessly from the sidelines as one of his lifetime companions died, while at the same time trying to survive his match. _Du'husry was a pain, but he doesn't deserve this. No one does. Sru'sky, she is my sister, and I couldn't bear to see her go. I can't believe I have to choose. _Realizing that he had no hand in the outcome, Alex saddened by the impending death of one of his lifelong companions, turned to look to his feet, his thoughts turning to ones where he had chosen. _Sru'sky, please win, if you die, I will be too heartbroken to continue living. _

"All combatants report to designated platforms." As the emotionless intercom spoke, Sru'sky and Du'husry silently departed to their platforms. The platforms were arranged in an octagon shape around a central point. All the combatants received numbers to be used in each competition. Alex had been given no. 4, and each of the eight combatants was matched against the one other who was of the same species. As Alex stepped onto his platform, he saw his soon to be opponent, Vladimira, shoot him a deeply apologetic look as she boarded her platform. Next to her, Trion unenthusiastically stepped onto his platform, whilst reviewing his opponent, Jerrochan, a taller, but more lightly built Cybertronian. Next to Alex, Du'husry shakily stepped into position, eyes never leaving Sru'sky opposite him. And finally, on Alex's other side, Quirinth adjusted her side weapons, ignorant of the blank stare that Hyebashria was sporting whilst staring upwards.

At last, all the platforms began to rise. What was strange was that the sets of opposite platforms were rising at differing speeds. Alex and Vladimira were rising fastest, Quirinth and Hyebashria were next up, Sru'sky and Du'husry were next up, and finally bringing up the bottom was Trion and Jerrechon. As the platforms rose, so did the constant echoing of a cheering crowd above. Suddenly, the roof above them opened, and as they rose upwards through the new opening, the arena became visible.

A massive circle of grandstands, some stacked atop one another, all managing to pack thousands of the lizard beings into their seats. Overhead, brightly coloured explosions [fireworks], were detonating loudly, and spotlights shone down on the combatants. When the light settled on them, the crowd went ballistic, letting out screams. _Screams demanding bloodshed for entertainment: _Thought Alex. Whilst he looked at the crowds with disgust, a voice came over a loud intercom, and began to address the entire arena:

"Welcome all spectators and contenders, to this night of gaming and survival!" As he finished his sentence, the crowd roared in approval, the trembles from their voices managing to shake the platforms on which the 'contenders' stood. The announcer continued: "And tonight, we have an entire array of competitors who will be battling for survival and glory! Some already experienced in these games, and others who have yet to learn the basics. And what a selection of competitors we have tonight, ladies and gentlemen! So, let's start from the bottom!" The spotlights shined on the bottom platforms: "On this level, we have an already experienced competitor. He has survived already in three days of competition, and is a prime candidate for our champion's next challenger, the titan of tech, Trion! And as his opponent, a seasoned soldier in the armies, but new to the games, a veteran mech, Jerrechon!" The crowd cheered and jeered as massive TV screens around the arena focused on both competitor's faces, and as the spotlights moved up to the level up.

"On this level, we have two newcomers to the games. Two young teens, who lived on the harsh jungle world of Pandora, amongst deadly animals and even plantlife. But now, separated from all this nature, how will they survive. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Sru'sky and Du'husry." As the crowd voiced their 'support', Alex became angry that Sru'sky, and Du'husry, were in this situation, and the terrified looks on their faces only reinforced this. The lights moved up again, and the next level came into focus.

"On our second highest level, we have two individuals who live as part of a race that values sport combat, galactically renowned for their combat prowess. Now, the reputation of their species in general rests on these two Predators, as they battle each other for supremacy and survival. I give you, Hyebashria and Quirinth!" On screen, Quirinth scowled at her opponent, whilst Hyebashria timidly adjusted his position for more stability on the platform. Finally, Alex and Vladimira came into focus.

"And on the last level, two members of the human species. Both are potentially fierce contenders. One is a hardened assassin, wanted across the galaxy, and has a reputation that demands fear and respect. The other is a true survivalist, having lived his whole life in the harsh lifestyle of a Na'vi tribe, a seemingly impossible task for most humans. I present, Vladimira and Alex!" As the crowd roared upon this announcement, Alex turned to look at Vladimira, only to see an intimidating glint in her eyes, as she scanned Alex from head to toe, whilst gently fingering the set of double combat knives she had received. _If I want to see how Sru'sky and Du'husry get on, I need to beat this woman quickly._ As Alex looked down at the crowds, he saw gun turrets lining the walls. _There is no other way. I must kill her if I want to survive. Looks like Trion was 100% correct about these games._

Again, the emotionless intercom sounded: "Game select initiated, game format confirmation, balance platforms." The crowds went wild, while at the same time wide doors at the base of the arena opened. From them, very large, glass semicircular platforms were raised. Once level with a set of competitor's platforms, the two glass platforms joined to form a full circle. Now, each level was composed of two small metal platforms, attached to a circular glass platform at opposite sides of the diameter. The intercom sounded again: "All combatants, step onto the forward platform." As the competitors stepped onto each glass platform, the metal platforms they once stood upon detached, and began to lower again. Now, the competitor's stood on level, circular platforms of glass, with full view of the arena, audience and other competitors.

As Alex stared at his opponent, he muttered to himself: "Sru'sky, Du'hsury, I am sorry." With his silent ode to a now about-to-be-shattered rivalry and friendship, Alex stood to face Vladimira, who had already unsheathed her knives, and was just finished readying a pistol. Alex meanwhile, began to quickly ready his weapons. He unsheathed one both of his swords, and also mentally noted to use his left hand when firing his grenade launcher, as he was right handed, and his right hand would be better to keep a sword in hand for a stronger guarding ability.

The intercom sounded one last time: "Combatants, begin battle."

Vladimira charged, while Alex charged also, though not as fast, ready to strike down Vladimira to keep his self promise of comforting the winner of the Na'vi match tow levels down. With great valor, he began to raise his left sword while charging.

And then the platform began to tilt backwards, turning Alex's charge into an uphill run towards a savage gladiator with her eyes shining with bloodlust.

As Alex began to slow, the tilting worsened, and Alex now clung onto the platform with his nails digging into the glass. Overhead, Vladimira jumped, bellowing as she descended towards Alex, knife outstretched. Alex looked up at this incoming threat:

_Crap._


	7. Chapter 6

**Into the Darkness chapter 6,**

**Strategy and remorse.**

**23****rd**** February 2894.**

Like a bullet, Vladimira was flying towards Alex, who was preparing to block, while at the same time maintaining grip on the glass platform, as the tilting worsened. Within 2 seconds of leaping to attack, Vladimira's knife met Alex's right sword blade. With a clang of colliding metal, Alex was forced downwards by the force of the blow. However, thinking defensively, he used the momentum in Vladimira's leap to launch her over him, while parrying the blow. Shifting his weight, Alex threw her in the direction she leaped. To prevent herself from going over the platform edge, Vladimira set all hands, feet and knees on the platform to slow herself.

Immediately as she touched down though, the platform began to drastically tilt even more, making it difficult for both fighters to hold on. Wishing to get away his would be killer, Alex scrabbled up the platform, now tilted at 30 degrees. Thankfully, as Alex climbed towards the centre of the platform, the tilting lessened. At this discovery, and when he noticed the platform tilt back again as he slipped towards Vladimira slightly, Alex figured out how this game worked. The Na'vi children in hometree would play a similar game of sorts. A long log was balanced on a pivot, with two people on each end. The game was to stay on the longest. This seemed to be nothing more than an enlarged version, except that the platform was a circle, adding more dimensions to the game, and that the platform itself was 30 metres wide. _The aim is to knock your opponent off, and stay on yourself, or just kill your opponent and stay on yourself._

As Alex thought to himself briefly, the platform had begun to level slightly, as Vladimira inched towards the platform centre, having recovered from her tumble, which she herself had not expected Alex to deflect. _I don't get it. When I used that trick before, they all were dead when I landed, and the body would slide off past me! He duped me! _Realizing the fight was still on, Alex turned to face Vladimira, both swords drawn, ready to defend. She on the other hand, looked enraged that the fight had lasted this long already. With a shriek of rage, Vladimira charged at Alex, and Alex charged to meet her. At the centre they met, each one's blade meeting the other. As Alex pressed hard, he realized that Vladimira did not match him in strength, but her more solid posture gave her strength. What Alex also noticed was that he had brought both of his swords to block one of her knives. _The other hand is still free! _

Looking down, Alex just saw the other knife coming at his abdomen, glinting evilly. Becoming desperate, Alex put all his weight on one foot, and bought the other up into an immensely hard kick to her hand. With Alex's foot slamming into her wrist hard, Vladimira cried out in pain, as she felt him bruise her wrist badly, and felt her hand release the knife. Glaring at Alex, she then noticed him kick the knife far away from them, towards the edge of the platform. _No, of we go the wrong way, I'll lose that weapon!_

Satisfied that he had partially disarmed Vladimira, Alex pressed his advantage, and made a cheap move again to break the lock their blades were in. Sucking all the moisture from his mouth, and pooling it on his tongue, Alex spat into Vladimira's face. Having had a disgusting move pulled on her, Vladimira recoiled in disgust, which caused the platform to tilt again, something that worked to her advantage, as the discarded knife began to slide back to the centre of the platform. Seeing this happen, both opponents became desperate. As the knife edged faster towards the two, Alex made a quick plan, as did Vladimira.

The crowd watched in awe as the human match was about to end. The intensity of their match signalled that it would soon be over. As they watched, Vladimira began hammering away with her only knife, putting Alex on the defensive, as he blocked and retaliated with his swords. Each blow from both became faster, and soon she had her pistol out too, although Alex was blocking it so that any fired shots would harmlessly go to the ceiling. All of this happening while the platform was slightly tilted, the knife edging closer each second. One bold move from both sides sealed the end. Seeing the knife just feet from her, Vladimira delivered a painful kick to Alex's side, and dove for both knives. She had made the kick strong enough to knock Alex back sufficiently enough to keep the platform level as she went for her second knife.

As dove towards the knife lying their, she grinned to herself. _Just one shot from my pistol from here, and a knife throw, and I'm clear! _Triumphantly, she clenched her hand around the handle of the second knife, and began to whirl around for her final act for the match. And how right she was.

After suffering what he suspected was a cracked rib from her last kick, Alex knew this was the end. Realizing he could not win with swords for the end, he decided to call upon his only other weapon. Thankfully, he had loaded it before the match, and he remembered its setbacks compared to Vladimira's pistol. _Its more powerful, but I have enough time for only one shot. _Reaching over his shoulder, Alex prepared to fire.

Down two levels, Du'husry and Sru'sky had been half-heartedly fighting, and were now being surrounded by floating drones. An announcer sounded on their level. "Combatants, refusal to fully fight will result in the termination of both of you." Realizing this fact, both Na'vi teens began to embrace a side of their selves that rarely emerged in the clan. The primal desire for survival. Although both still revered each other as friends and rivals, now they began to view each other as a threat to their life. With savage cries, the two began to fight each other with more ferocity, which drew attention from the crowd, as overhead the human level was seeing a more one sided battle.

As they fought, Sru'sky was having conflicting thoughts, some selfless, others not so: _I do not want to kill one of my lifelong friends. __**But I want to live! **__No, my friends and family are more important than myself! __**But if I die, than I cannot be with friends and family any longer. One friend must be sacrificed to be able to see the others! I will SURVIVE! **_With newfound ferocity, Sru'sky hammered down onto Du'husry's blades, each blow driving them further towards the ground. As an added effect of Sru'sky's newfound drive, the platform began to tilt more, as Du'husry was forced backwards, his struggles to push Sru'sky back proving to be futile.

In a desperate bid to survive also, Du'husry prepared to fire his assault rifle, pulling it from behind him, aiming at Sru'sky's shoulder. He mentally commanded it to fire.

Nothing happened.

With horror, he realized that his lack of training with these weapons was something that would end him. In a last bid for mercy, Du'husry got on his knees, cating aside his weapons, which drew some boos from the arena crowd. "_Please, my clan sister! Do not end it like this! Spare me, please!" _Snapping out of her rage, Sru'sky looked with confusion at Du'husry, and then realized what she had almost done. Ignoring the threats from the hovering sentries, she dropped her weapons also, which again drew boos from the crowd. However, her next move would be a mistake she would regret for the remainder of her life.

Sru'sky began to move forwards, in order to protect Du'husry from the drones. However, as both had not moved much, they had failed to notice how the platform moved. As she stepped away from the centre towards Sru'sky, the platform tilted very steeply all of a sudden, due to Du'husry being so near the edge. The resulting movement caused Du'husry to fall over backwards, and begin sliding headfirst towards the edge. Screaming as he went, Du'husry tried to grab the edge of the platform as he slid off the edge at last. To the horror of both Du'husry, there was no grip on the edge.

Sru'sky fell to her knees, silently weeping as she watched Du'husry go falling over the edge of the glass platform, her mind ignorant of the monumental cheers emitted by the crowd as he fell, ignorant of the wrist blades and rifle that fell after him, seeking to fall with their brief master. All she thought was: _You are Sru'sky, you murdered Du'husry. _As she kneeled, she drowned in her sorrow and guilt, while her rival and friend fell.

Overhead, Alex's final move came into play. In front of him, Vladimira was about to bring her pistol to bear, to be followed by a thrown knife. However, her grin of triumph became one of horror and disbelief, as the muzzle of Alex's grenade launcher spat forth the object of her demise.

Upon impact, the grenade exploded. Alex had fired it from about 10 metres away, so he did feel the blast. The blast was sufficient to knock him backwards past the centre of the platform. Thankfully, he was not too far, so the tilt of the platform was not too much for the remaining combatant to bear. Knowing she was gone, Alex looked to see the mess leftover, but was surprised to see a large shattered hole where Vladimira had stood just seconds before, no blood at all.

It was when Alex looked down that Vladimira's fate became known, and that the outcomes of the other matched became known too. Looking down, Alex just saw Vladimira screaming in terror as she plummeted 40 metres down, before landing with a sickening crack on the platform below. After her landing, Vladimira never moved again, a puddle of blood slowly pooling beneath her confirming her death. Alex felt two emotions at Vladimira's defeat. Sorrow, that he had just taken an innocent life enslaved in these games, but also a greater amount of relief, as he had survived this round.

Looking down with intrigue, Alex saw that Quirinth, the female predator, had completed her first, and had been standing idle next to Hyebashiria's dead body, before Vladimira's landing had caused her to look up at Alex in surprise. Seeing him victorious, she gave Alex a hearty thumbs up, yelling: "Nice job rookie!" This news briefly reassured Alex, although what he saw next shattered his elation at victory.

Just in time, he saw the platform two levels down tilt, and witnessed one of the Na'vi teens fall to death. Desperate to see which of the two survived, Alex saw that it was Sru'sky who had survived. What Alex thought next partially ashamed Alex: _Thank you Eywa, Sru'sky lived. _Remembering that Du'husry was now dead, Alex felt his knees weaken, as he collapsed onto his knees, like his sister below. Although, no visible tears were shed by him, but internally, Alex was feeling cold and lonely: _How much longer until none of us are left. Why did we have to be dragged into this! If not, Du'hsury would still be alive, and my sister would not have the pain of killing someone she held dear as a friend. _

Alex gave a silent goodbye, as he saw Du'husry's body fade into the abyss below, drowning in the artificial fog below and in the crowd's cheering for the ending of on round.

On the last level, Trion aggressively shoved his blade through the chest of his opponent, silently muttering an apology to Jerrochon for having to kill him. Carefully, he set the corpse of the once proud Cybertronian on the ground, and fell into a sitting position, in a location where the platform would be level enough to prevent both Trion and his now dead opponent from sliding off. After adjusting his position, Trion watched with vague intrigue at the matches above.

Apparently Quiritnth had won before him. She was standing victoriously by her opponent's dead body. As Trion looked on with bemusement, he saw one of the humans slam into Quirinth's platform, the female Vladimira. This shocked Trion. She had been a real challenge to her opponents, unbeaten for 4 days, longer than him. And yet a total newcomer had beaten her. _This Alex must be good_. However, on the level just above Trion, the last match ended in tragedy.

As Trion watched, he saw Sru'sky advance to help Du'husry, inadvertently sending him over the edge as the platform tilted. Sru'sky fell to her knees, weeping at the fact that she had murdered her friend. As Trion watched Du'husry fall to his death, he felt a pang of sorrow in his spark. _I spoke with him just minutes before, and now he is dead. His life has been wasted now. What is worse is how Sru'sky is coping. She is incredibly sad now, it pains me to see anyone like this. _

As Du'husry fell, and eventually faded out of sight, the alarms sounded in the arena. This signalled the end of this round. The platforms levelled out, and the metal platforms joined onto them again. The arena drones directed each victorious combatant to their platform, although Alex took slightly longer to respond, and Sru'sky had to be outright carried by the drones. As the survivors boarded, the announcer, silent since the start, declared the results: "Ladies and Gentlemen, and astounding result. On level 1, Trion defeated Jerrechon by chest impaling with relative ease. On level 2, Sru'sky sent Du'husry falling to his death in a surprise move of deception." At this announcement, Sru'sky began loudly sobbing again, which drew looks of sympathy from Trion and Quirinth, and one of similar sadness from Alex: "On level 3, Quirinth defeated Hyebashria in a rapid series of slashes and stabs that confounded out spectators. But most unique of all, Alex managed to best Vlaimira, a renowned assassin and arena survivor, by destroying the floor beneath her, and sending her falling to the next level to die! What a great series of battles. And there is only more to come!" The crowd boomed in applause, as they congratulated the survivors on their performance, whilst they themselves descended back into their holding area, in differing mental states.

The next few minutes were silent for the four survivors, as they went to return their borrowed weapons, and to recover from their match. As the four rejoined the gathering of combatants in the underground atrium, they remained silent.

Quirinth was relieved and satisfied that her match had been easy and quick, and allowed her to recover the quickest, allowing her to gather her thoughts. _Hyebashria sure was weak, he didn't even scratch me. Still, it is sad that he had to die, especially since he was of my own kind. _At these thoughts, Quirinth glanced over at the other individual survivors of the last round.

_Trion made it alright, he's one tough mech for being young among Cybertronians. He finished just shortly after me. In fact, all four matches ended quite quickly._ As her eyes left the shape of the mech, she found them trained on the human boy, Alex, and the Na'vi girl Sru'sky. Both were sitting together, and Alex looked saddened, but also deep in thought. Sru'sky however, was a wreck, silently spilling tears on the ground, even as Alex placed a comforting arm on her back. _Poor kids, they grew up in a tribe, they don't know about some of the nastier aspects of life outside their world, and they just lost a friend to these games. Still, their survival doesn't surprise me, living in a Na'vi tribe is known to be hard. Alex, he's a wonder, a human raised in a Na'vi tribe? He must be good if he lasted this long. _Wanting to know about them, and to offer her condolences for the loss of their friend Du'husry, Quirinth started towards the two.

Trion watched in sadness as Sru'sky let flow a fresh batch of tears. The sadness she was feeling for having killed Du'husry must be immense. _No person her age should have to experience pain like that. _Fuelled by the interesting conversation before the fights, and to share sympathy for both of them losing a friend, Trion made his way towards the two. As he was about to stop before them, he noticed that Quirinth had also come over.

Another wave of sadness overcame Sru'sky. As fresh tears began to cascade down already dampened cheeks, Sru'sky remembered again the look on Du'husry's face as he went over. _It was my fault. I forgot about the platform tilting. After I dropped my weapons, he must have thought I was going to help him. But I only made things worse by stepping forwards. I killed him. I killed Du'husry, when I didn't mean to! _

Burying her head in her hands, Sru'sky sensed multiple things occur. First, she felt the comforting hand and arm of her brother, Alex, rest upon her back, acting as a calming presence. Second, was the sound of two approaching individuals, one of them sounding off metallic clangs and thuds as he took each step. And third, she smelt the scents of each one. The one on her left was reptilian, but also slightly mammalian, and overall an incredibly alien scent to her. The other person she smelt, Sru'sky had met already. He gave off a metallic scent, his sharp odour standing out more so now, since he was now the only Cybertronian in the room, having killed the only other one here just minutes ago.

Opening her eyes, Sru'sky saw Quirinth, the female predator, sit down on her left side, and also saw Trion sit on her other side, with Alex sandwiched between them both[slightly uncomfortable on his part]. It was Trion who spoke first:

"_I am sorry for your loss. You must have been good friends with him." _Nodding her head, Sru'sky was reminded of the good times she had with Du'husry, those days when he was not annoying and acting as a fierce rival, but as a companion. Trion continued: "_If it helps, my parental femme, my mother, always said to me something useful to remember about pain like this. _'It hurts at first, but you must let the past go, to not let it haunt you and disrupt your time in the present. Do not forget the past, but do not dwell on it day and night.'" Sru'sky understood the wisdom behind these words, and turned towards Trion, having to glance slightly upwards to meet him eye to eye. "Thank you. I just wish that this did not ever happen." From her othr side, Quirinth spoke up: "People involved in stuff like this often say that, but that doesn't stop them from making the most of how things work out. Mourn Du'hsury later, focus on protecting the life you have that he lost his to maintain also." Despite the slightly harsh execution, these words did remind Sru'sky of what needed to be done now. She had to survive, in order to preserve the memory of Du'hsury.

Sru'sy then vowed to survive these games, in order to pass on news of Du'husry's death to the tribe if they returned.

Below Sru'sky's vision, Alex was glancing between Sru'sky, Quirinth and Trion, listening to each exchange closely. He had taken the lessons from both Trion and Quirinth to heart, just as Sru'sky just had. However, his mind was already at work thinking of ways out of the games. _The arena has so many spectators, how did they get here? If we could escape, we could find a craft to fly out on! But how to escape?_

Looking around, Alex figured that there were roughly 16 guards on duty, and about 5 times as many prisoners. _Five to one, not fair for them is it? _Next, Alex panned his view around the walls and ceiling. He saw the balcony where the rules were announced by the speaker hours before. On there was two more guards. _Still about five to one._

Remembering how else security could be maintained, Alex figured it would be good to assume that a sensor system, perhaps cameras and audio sensors, were installed in the atrium. Realizing that would cause problems, Alex singled that out as the primary cause for concern. _If we do rebel, those systems will need to be disabled, if they most likely exist, to slow down the response and arrival of extra guards. _Deciding to seek help, Alex asked Trion about the security:

"Trion, you say that you've been here three days. Surely you would have heard of any security systems meant to watch us?" Taken aback by the sudden subject change, Trion glanced around briefly, optics lingering slightly longer on the nearest guard, before he bent over slightly, and said in a whisper: "I overheard one of the guards gloating about tiny cameras and audio sensors across the walls, and also security drones patrolling the corridors. Why does that concern you though?" Alex gave him a deadpan look, surprised that he had not grasped the subtle message behind his question: "I want to hatch an escape plan, one that will involve many, if not every prisoner in this room. It will need any knowledge that is valuable to its success, and it would be better to have it sooner."

Sru'sky looked down at her human brother, surprised at his sudden statement of escape. Unlike him, Sru'sky had already accepted the futility of trying to escape, even after just a few hours. By the sound of it, Alex was asking how to disable the security systems in this hall, as part of an escape plan. However, due to her recent drive to survive after seeing Du'husry die, Sru'sky would contribute and go with any plan that could have even a chance of success. "Alex, what did you think of?"

Looking at her now, Alex replied: "It's only a rough plan, but an uprising against the guards, with a distraction also. We outnumber the guards five to one, at least by the guards here. As long as the security systems can somehow be weakened or shut down, we may stand a chance of escaping." As Alex finished, Quirinth spoke from from Sru'sky's other side: "They have weapons that we can't match, we're unarmed. We'd need an arsenal to stand a chance."

Suddenly, Sru'sky thought of an idea: "The weapons they give us!" If we can sneak them down here, we could use them." Trion beamed at her, exposing his pointed metal teeth: "That is possible, they check out the weapons, but if we rewire the weapon dispenser drones, we could make them check the weapons in again, and we could sneak them down here." At this addition to the plan, Alex realized that two aspects were missing: "Good, but the security systems can be deactivated after we get the weapons, cameras, sensors and drones. But what about the actual escape? All others puzzled by this question, it was Quirinth who came up with the solution, her reptilian eyes and flapped mouth opening wide in realization: "The spacecraft outside! If we hijack some of those, and either force a pilot to get us clearance out of orbit, or do it ourselves, we should get out without any trouble. That is so long as we get out of the arena, otherwise we just have to go to the spaceport they brought us in on."

Staring at Quirinth, and leaping up to his feet, Alex had to stop himself from exclaiming, and merely said: "Quirinth, if I had known you much longer and knew how your species worked, I could kiss you right now. You just completed a possible plan of escape with your input." To Sru'sky, Quirinth appeared to be deciding whether to be charmed or insulted. After saying that strange statement, Alex began to wander off, to which Sru'sky asked him: "Where are you going?"

Turning around, Alex sported a cunning smirk, and replied: "To gather support, just tell them the plan and ask if they're in. You can help me by also asking." With that statement, Alex walked over to another group, comprised of several humans, and tapped one on the shoulder, and began to whisper.

Taking the hint by the demonstration, Trion stood up and walked over to a group of different beings some way's away, and Quirinth did the same with another group. Sru'sky was the last to head to a group, deciding to talk the other Na'vi teenagers who had been abducted with her and Alex first. _They know Alex and me, so they will be easier to convince._

The support was massive. Apparently the plan was the first one sprouted that universally stood out in every prisoner's mind as actually stood a chance of success. As the four went amongst the prisoners, about 80 in number, including those called up for games, it was decided that by tonight, the plan will have been implemented. The distraction would be provided by a group having just gone out to the games, and a group returning from the same games would gather the weapons, as guards will have been diverted to guard the arena, and the group next would cause further distraction, while the others escaped.

The choice of who provided the distraction, and who got weapons after surviving, along with those who provided the second, suicidal distraction, would be decided by the announcer. All of the prisoners realized that the ones who went out next stood a chance of surviving, and returning with weapons, whilst the group afterwards would all perish. They all knew that people would have to die to let others escape. 4 hours after returning from the match that killed Du'husry, during which time Quirinth had only been called from amongst the four for one of the 3 matches every 40 minutes.

At last the announcement for the next match, the one that would decide who stood a 50% chance of being called to sneak the weapons down.

"The following combatants will step onto the platform: Men'chri, Sru'sky, Quirinth, Damien, Gr'honlos, Alex, Yristris, Trion.

Silently thankful that he was in this round and not the next, Alex willingly stepped forwards onto the platform. The similar feeling of rising to the armoury was less significant now, due to both having experienced it before, and Alex's mind being focused on the upcoming escape.

The platform settled into place, and the eight competitors were lined up single file. Again, the armoury drones distributed weapons. However, this time a surprise was in store. In their previous match, and in cases of Trion and Quirinth, the matches prior, they had all received varying weaponry each. This time though, they all received the same tools.

Two sets of blades that folded outwards like a Chinese fan, again with grooves cut into the edges, with circuitry visible on where the handle would be. The 'handles' were awkward to hold, and in Trion's case, were sticking to him. _Magnets._

As the combatants stepped onto the octagonal platforms, the platforms rotated so that it was arranged into two close groups of four platforms. As she boarded, Quirinth recognized this set up. _Must be a team event. _Overhead, an electronic announcement sounded: "This game is set up as a team exercise. Each team consists of the victors from one particular round. Team 1, designated yellow, and team two, designated green."

The announcement finished, the drones came around again, and strapped belts around each combatant's torso, shoulders and chest. With their job done, the drones back away. After the drones left, the platforms rose as they did before, rising towards the sound of the crowds above. As they rose, Team 1's belts began to shine with yellow, neon bright light. On team 2, their belts began to shine a similarly bright green. As Trion watched his team's belts light up green, he noticed the colour of each of his teammate's eyes. Quirinth possessed a reptilian, cold yet protective shade of yellow, common among predators. It was the colour of the eyes of Alex and Sru'sky which surprised Trion.

Among Cybertonians, optic colour can shift according to the emotions a mech or femme feels, although a colour change only occurs when the emotion is strong enough. Trion himself had the azure blue optics that Cybertronians had, the most common optic colour, with red being uncommon, green and yellow being rare. Among the Na'vi though, yellowish-gold eyes were common, and according to tradition, other eye colours symbolized a special difference. Sru'sky's eyes were a vibrant green, like jade and emerald melded into one precious material. Alex was just as, if not more unique among his kind. He had a truly abnormal scarlet colour in his eyes, and although it did occur naturally, it was very rare.

Known only to his sister, mother and father, Alex's scarlet eyes would seem to undergo changes in shades of red according to his feelings. A dull sandy red was one texture, which showed when neutral emotions ran within him. Dark red, like blood, showed when negative emotions, like anger, were felt. And lastly a shining colour, like a ruby, whenever positive emotions, like joy, were felt.

At last, with the crowds roaring in the foreground, Alex looked out at the arena stage they would fight on. Around him, a flat transparent surface stretched out, like the material the platforms from his last challenge were made from. As he looked, the single platform stretched on, and to his immense surprise, started to incline up with distance. Even further along, the platform curved over, and even hung over their heads upside down many metres up.

What the two teams were to fight in was a giant sphere, about 350 metres wide at most. Remembering basic maths, this meant that fully running the circle of the sphere was just over 1 kilometre.

_What the hell are they going make us do now!_


	8. Chapter 7

**Into the Darkness chapter 7,**

**Vertigo and revolt.**

**23****rd**** February 2894.**

_What the hell are they going to make us do in here!_

Tilting his head vertically and around, Alex was stunned by the size of the glass sphere they were enclosed in. Beyond it, the crowds cheered, although not as loud as could be, as the event hadn't yet begun.

Suddenly, in front of each team, a rectangular section of platform split, to reveal another rising platform. On it rested what appeared to be vehicles. The vehicles themselves were little more than long, narrow boards, with two spherical wheels on each end, and different pedals on top of the board. Also, each board was differently sized, apparently according to the size of each team member. Naturally, Alex and Quirinths' boards were the same size, about 2 metres long. However, the one in front of Sru'sky was about double the size, at 4 metres long. Trion's board was massive, about 7 metres long. On the opposite side of the platform, similarly sized boards were allocated to the similarly sized combatants, with the exception of Trion's nearest equivalent opponent. Along with the boards came appropriately sized boots, which all combatants were instructed by the intercom to put on.

Looking to his side, Alex saw Trion and Sru'sky looking at the boards with as much confusion as him, as it seemed none of them had played or heard of this challenge before.

"You ride them like this."

All three heads turned to Quirinth, who had mounted her board, standing sideways on it, arms extended slightly to balance her body. Following example, Alex, Sru'sky and Trion proceeded to get on their boards. However, Alex and Sru'sky were unaccustomed to this type of riding, and did not have built in auto gyroscopic systems in the case of Trion. The result, Sru'sky standing shakily on her board, struggling to stay on, but gradually becoming stable, and Alex toppling off first time. Alex's fall drew laughter from the audience and the opposing team, and Quirinth didn't help, as she gave a giggle as Alex got on his feet again.

Mortified, Alex boarded his vehicle once more, this time with more success, as he maintained a slightly wobbly but stable posture. Just as he got on, the intercom announced: "Arena now active, commence Globe Board Battle."

The arena trembled as the crowds went ballistic, as the match started. In front of him, Alex saw the opposition, who were all thankfully strangers take off. _No familiar faces, this means not as much trauma as after last round. _Repressing the memory of Du'husry's demise, Alex watched the other team, learning how to use the board.

As they rode off, Alex saw the foot pedals on the board controlled the speed and direction, and by leaning back or forwards, the board turned. Applying this knowledge, Alex pressed the pedal nearest his forward foot.

As he pressed two things occurred, First, the board lurched forwards, as the ball shaped wheels rolled to propel the board forwards. Second, Alex noticed that the boots he had been issued with were sticking to the board by magnetism. At this discovery, Alex also saw that he could press the pedals in front of and behind him with more or less pressure, to change speed. The pedals were on springs, and more pressure had to be applied to move faster.

Deciding to test the board, Alex accelerated, until a good speed was reached. As he rode around the sphere, he saw the other team members going around the sides also, some going quite far up the sides, almost to vertical. Feeling confidant, Alex accelerated more, riding further upwards while spiralling around the sphere. As he rose higher, Alex eventually reached what would have been the vertical.

But the gravity felt normal.

Cautiously, Alex began to go higher, and the world below began to go inverted. Soon enough, Alex was upside down. What was strange was that he felt as if he was standing on level ground, and even his hair was staying down.

Disoriented by this apparent violation of basic physics, Alex barely had time to register and incoming opponent, both blades extended sideways like wings, both glowing with bright, neon green energy.

Sru'sky watched as Alex took off, along with the opponents. As he circled higher, he began to go inverted, and at such a speed that he would have fallen. While watching this, Quirinth had taken off in pursuit of one of the opponents, and Trion was standing idle nearby, also watching how to play the game.

As Alex was directly above, Sru'sky saw one of the opponents approaching him at high speed, extending what looked to be the swords they were issued, except they glowed. As they met, Alex quickly ducked, and began to accelerate more, arcing

downwards towards the bottom of the sphere.

Looking down at her own blades, which were dangling loosely, tips scraping the floor, Sru'sky pressed a button on the sides of the blades. Immediately, the same neon green glow emanated on the blade edge. And immediately, the floor where the blade tips rested began to melt away.

Letting loose a yelp of surprise, Sru'sky looked at the weapons, and then to Trion, who was preparing to ride off. He looked to her and yelled: "We have to use them to knock each other off their boards!" With that, he drove off quickly, his board motor whining as it sent power to the wheels, sending Trion after another opponent.

Overhead, a scream of pain was heard, and the source was the first player to fall. Quirinth had managed to catch her first victim, and had brought her blades down on his board, swerving afterwards to avoid his tumble from falling from his board at 60 mph. He bounced and slid along the upper bowl of the arena, and a faint crack was heard as he broke one of his arms, and began to loudly yell in agony.

Watching in awe, Sru'sky failed to notice one of the opponents, a Romulan, screaming towards her from behind. As he turned on his blades, Sru'sky turned to see the rider, while at the same time Alex had driven down to meet the threat.

The blades in Alex's hands buzzed to life as the plasma ignition button was activated. While holding them sideways like an _Ikran's _wings, Alex rocketed towards the Romulan rider, who had been trying a sneak attack on Sru'sky. Luckily, Sru'sky ducked down and drove to the side, leaving no obstacles between Alex and the Romulan, with only one second's time between their collision.

Meeting him head on in a brief game of chicken, Alex swerved at the last moment, so that their boards would pass within inches of each other. Just before passing, Alex leant over backwards limbo style, avoiding the Romulan's blade, while attacking with his own. Alex's move held true, for a price. Both managed to land a hit. As Alex passed, the very tip of one of the Romulan's blades traced up from his chin, up his left cheek, and just missed his ear. The agony of having his skin cut and incinerated at the same time caused Alex to give a scream of pain. Although, Alex's hit caused far more damage. As he took the hit, Alex's blade sliced cleanly through the Romulan's forward ankle, and cut just half of the second. This too earned a scream of agony from the Romulan.

Both wounded combatants sped off, their wounds causing them problems. Alex now held a hand to his face, as the burning cut caused him great pain. Luckily it was not too deep, and no bones had been hit. But, Alex's cheek had been cut deeply, and the skin of his cheek now had a thin hole in it. This would mean that blowing up his cheeks would now cause a large line shaped hole to appear. Fortunately, as the wound had been incidentally burnt also, there was hardly any bleeding.

The Romulan was less lucky.

As he had passed, he had swerved in his agony, unable to control the board, now having one of his ankles completely severed and one half severed. While he swerved, he lost balance, and began to topple off his board. As he hot the ground, at a speed of 50 mph, his board was ripped off his feet by the force of the crash, and it took his severed foot with it. What was worse though, came when the board twisted before finally coming free. As the boots magnetically attached the person to the board, the feet stayed on the board. As the board turned, the half severed ankle was twisted, and a sickening crack and taring of flesh sounded as the Romulan's last foot was ripped from his body, bone snapping as it went. His screams of unimaginable agony rang throughout the arena, and drew stares from all the combatants, and monumentous cheers from the crowd. The Romulan bounced for a few metres, screaming as he went, before landing head first and falling to the ground, unconscious from the impact, and from shock of sudden amputation.

Sru'sky started up her board with great speed, taking a few moments to adjust to the controls. As she accelerated, she caught up alongside Alex, who was now clutching the right side of his face in great agony, while somehow staying on his board.

"_Alex, are you hurt!" _Sru'sky tried to look at his face, but recoiled in shock as Alex violently exclaimed in reply: "HOW'S 'BOUT I CUT YOUR CHEEK OPEN AND SLICE YOUR CHIN, THEN YOU TELL ME IF IT HURTS!" Without waiting for a response, Alex raced off in pursuit of another opponent, who was pursuing Quirinth relentlessly.

As she watched him depart, Sru'sky felt greatly hurt that her own brother had yelled at her. _Please Eywa, guide Alex in this time of struggle, even if he does not have much faith in you._

_Damn, this guy doesn't give up! _As Quirinth swerved sideways to throw off her pursuer, she began to see herself running out of options. This opponent, a Vulcan by creed, was intent on tailing her, waiting to strike, seeking vengeance for the other Vulcan she slew moments before. Deciding to turn and fight, she made a 180 degree turn, but remained on her course. Now she was facing backwards to where she was going. Decelerating rapidly, Quirinth closed the gap.

Before she could land a hit, the Vulcan performed a 180 turn also, and was now facing his back to her. Apparently he had turned to an incoming source of noise, which turned out to be a vicious looking human teenager, with a particularly bad slice opening his cheek. The Vulcan was fully occupied, as Alex hammered away with his dual blades, blocking any counterattacks the Vulcan made, and overall making a misery of the Vulcan's life.

Being a pragmatist, Quirinth saw that this duel might last a while, and that was not good if the escape plan was to succeed. And so, she decided to end the fight. Cautiously slowing down to just behind the Vulcan, she raised her blade, using the other to stabilize herself. As she was about to strike, the Vulcan bent over in pain, as Alex landed a hard punch to his gut, a rather dirty trick in fighting. To add insult to injury, Alex had followed up with a stab through the Vulcan's right shoulder. As the neon green blade protruded out of his shoulder, the Vulcan let loose a guttural cry of pain, unable to respond.

_Now's a good time if any._

Quickly adjusting herself, Quirinth plunged her blade into the Vulcan's back, silencing his screaming. Quickly drawing her weapon from his back, Quirinth noted the look on Alex's face, and was amused by his next statement: "I was fine, I didn't need help!" Throwing a playful smile his way, Quirinth swerved away,, while yelling in reply: "Sorry kid, I saw him first!" Quirinth then looked to her right, and saw tht the last opponent was the other side of the sphere.

_Damn, by the time I get to him he'll be dead. Its four to one, and I bet Trion will get her, he's closest. _

Indeed, as Quirinth contemplated on her inability to get more than two kills this session, Trion was gaining on the female Vulcan, who had spent the session outrunning Trion.

Pressing the accelerator as hard as it could go, Trion raced after the last opponent, who was making no effort to turn and fight. This was one time Trion cursed his size over organics, as it scared them, and made it difficult to interact with them in any way. Whether it be helping, or in this case, attempting to maim or even kill.

At 15 feet tall, Trion easily towered over the 6 foot Vulcan female. However, the boards were designed to travel at the same speed, regardless of size. What did slow the boards down slightly was the size of the opponents. As a much smaller being, the Vulcan managed to stay ahead.

He had already circled the sphere at least 12 times in pursuit of this one opponent. Like a spiralling aerial dogfight, no progress was being made.

Still upset by her brother's violent retort, Sru'sky looked around the arena. The crowds seemed to all be following a single chase now, as Alex and Quirinth had eliminated the first three opponents, leaving only one. That one was giving Trion grief, as his size prevented him from closing the gap.

Eager to end this fight now, Sru'sky began to accelerate much more quickly, spiralling in the opposite direction to the chase above her, which was happening on the equator of the sphere.

After reaching 50 mph, Sru'sky turned to the chase, and began to prepare for a head on assault. As she extended and activated her plasma blades, the gap closed rapidly around the rim of the sphere. 500 metres, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50, 20. Suddenly, the Vulcan swerved right to avoid the incoming attack, and both of the women clashed briefly, as their outstretched plasma blades struck each other, giving off a shower of sparks.

Recovering from the Vulcan woman's dodging move, Sru'sky steered to her right, to prepare for another strike and to avoid an incoming mass of metal called Trion. Deciding to gain more speed, Sru'sky turned to drive in a loop around the top of the sphere, and used the distance to accelerate to 80 mph, the board's maximum speed.

As she once again extended her blades, Sru'sky saw Trion once again pursuing the Vulcan, and Quirinth and Alex were not far behind him, and were apparently bickering with each other as they gave chase.

"That guy was mine and you know it!" yelled Alex, flipping Quirinth a finger as he gave chase to Trion and his quarry.

"Please, that lover's quarrel would've lasted another hour at your rate!" Retorted Qurinth rudely, as she too followed Trion, eager to add a third kill to her list this session.

"Admit it, I had him until you snuck up and stole the last blow! If it wasn't for you, I would have two kills, not you!"

"Not like your only kill was any good, he cut your cheek open before you got him!"

"I WAS PLAYING CHICKEN WITH HIM! HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW HE HAD THE BALLS TO NOT DODGE INSTANTLY!" As Alex continued to argue, his opened cheek was stretching repeatedly, showing off his gruesome injury. Though it still hurt, bleeding was minimal, as the plasma blade tip had immediately cauterized the wound. This left only a burnt, open slit down the length of his left cheek, and a cut on his chin, where part of the bone was visible, even though it was undamaged.

Alex used the great pain the wound caused to fuel his anger and determination, which was meeting with loggerheads in his argument of scores with Quirinth. Amongst this quarrel, a truth was emerging about the games. In order to survive, one had to view death as not as bad as once thought. The best though, would enjoy causing death, either from the knowledge of one's superiority over those who fell, or more sadistically, enjoyment at the horror of the fallen opponents as they died.

Fortunately, Alex and Quirinth were merely arguing over scores, as both had developed the mindset to be able to survive here, to put enthusiasm into what must be done.

Unknown to the bickering human and predator, the annoyed ankle biting Cybertronian and the panicking Vulcan, Sru'sky was closing fast from the right side. As the group circumnavigated the equator of the sphere, Sru'sky zoomed down from on high, blades extended, closing the gap. Slightly in front of the Vulcan, Sru'sky violently pulled to the left, bringing her into a direction perpendicular to that of the foursome below.

Just three seconds after she turned in, the fight ended. Sru'sky used her extra height to avoid any major damage. As she crossed paths with the Vulcan, she passed just under a metre behind her. As she passed, Sru'sky's right blade met the neck of the Vulcan woman. At 80 mph, the cut was swift and clean. With no time to register the pain, and no time to scream, the Vulcan's head tumbled off, sheared off by the plasma blade edge. The body though, continued, spiralling on the board as it spasmed slightly from the life briefly left in it, but also from the loss of board control. With no motor control, the body stopped pressing the pedals, and the board slowed. Before it stopped, the body keeled over forwards, and hit the ground with a mighty thud, and sliding to a stop, as a speechless Trion passed by at speed, followed by a now also silent Quirinth and Alex. All three stared at the corpse, and then at Sru'sky. Quirinth showed annoyance that she had stolen her kill, Trion showed relief that the fight was over, and Alex stared open mouthed at Sru'sky, wondering how she had snuck up so well.

Within seconds of the last Vulcan's fall, the arena erupted in cheers, and the buzzer sounded to announce the end of the round. All four remaining combatants began to relax, as they stepped onto the platform at the centre of the sphere, unheeding of the booming crowd beyond the transparisteel sphere arena. Once again, the announcer from before came on, to comment on the results: "_Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a win. The winners by an impressive four to none are the victors of the platform challenge: The colossal Trion of Cybertron, the savage Quirinth of Norgroth, the deadly vixen Sru'sky of Pandora, and the vicious Alex of Pandora!" They will advance to the next round!" _As the crowd roared in delight, all failed to notice the looks being exchanged between the four survivors.

Silently, Alex nodded to Trion, Sru'sky and Quirinth, as he thought to himself: _What he doesn't know is that we won't be here much longer._

The elevator ride down to the armoury was tense and silent, with the only sound coming from the moving elevator. Each combatant was tense, preparing to carry out the plan. As they passed down to the armoury, Sru'sky looked across to Alex, tears almost coming to her eyes at the sight of him wincing greatly as he cradled his opened cheek in his hand. The slash extended up the entire side of his face, providing a second entrance to his mouth. As Sru'sky felt the elevator slow however, her mind focused on the escape plan.

The four disembarked the elevator platform, just as one of the four armoury drones came forwards. It asked them to relinquish their weapons, which all four did willingly. As it checked the weapons back into storage, it failed to notice the other three take down the other three drones, with Sru'sky, Quirinth and Alex wrestling the drones to the floor, ripping or smashing their heads to destroy the circuitry, and any possible internal alarm systems. Meanwhile, Trion snuck up behind the fourth.

In order to access the weapons, a pass key was needed. These were carried only by security and the armoury drones. The plan was to hack into the central processor of the last drone and take control. The drones were cheaply built, and so no anti hacking or anti-hardwiring software was integrated into its programming.

As it finished storing all the sets of energy blades of the victors and losers, the drone suddenly shuddered violently, as its internal systems were invaded by Trion. His finger pressed onto its back, robotic cables extending from his grasp, feeding into the wiring of the drone. After a few seconds, the drone stopped shaking, and stood silently. With the cables still connected, Trion ordered the Drone to unload the weapons through an internal communication system in the hacking tendril.

A minute later, all four were heavily laden with an arsenal of weapons, to hand out when they got back to the prison level. Along with wiping the drone's memory of handing out all these weapons, Trion also had hooked up to the central mainframe, and sent out a moderate virus, to knock out the camera systems. The four stepped onto the platform, and remained tense and silent as it descended.

For 10 minutes the eight had gone to their match, and now the prisoners eagerly awaited the return of four of them with the weapons. Beyond the crowd, the guards were getting uneasy at how silent the crowd had fallen. The guards remained alert, whilst the elevator ascended to the level. The crowd seemed to hold it breath as the platform drew level.

Without a word, the four survivors, a human boy, a Na'vi girl, a female predator and a Cybertronian mech, descended into the ranks of the prisoners, all while groups began to crowd around them. To the guards, this was natural, as the prisoners would often question about the match outcome.

Surrounded on all sides now by intimidating, expectant humans, Sru'sky sat down, so that her eyes were level with that of the group's leader, a rather brutish looking man, with a red buzz cut and stubbles all over his body. Remembering the plan, Sru'sky nodded to the leader, and discreetly began to slide weapons from her side holders. As Sru'sky was lightly dressed, she was carrying small weapons, including the two extendable plasma knives she was keeping to herself.

Meanwhile, Quirinth was handing out larger weapons, such as rifles, pistols and grenades. The rifles and pistols operated as plasma weaponry, and had no ammo limit, but needed energy from power packs or direct link. The weapons that Quirinth kept for herself included an assault plasma rifle, 2 thermal grenades and a plasma combat knife.

Trion was able to distribute heavy weapons, as the guards would have seen him taking thermal grenade launchers and heavy plasma rifles from all sorts of spaces in his body, which had caused him discomfort on the ride from the armoury to here. For his own use, Trion withheld three heavy plasma rifles, a thermal grenade launcher and a large plasma blade emitter. The energy weapons would be able to take power directly from Trion's spark, giving them more lethal capability.

Finally, Alex was handing out medium sized weapons, such as assault plasma rifles, pistols and combat knives, all of which Alex had hidden inside his trouser leggings. Like Trion, Alex had been uncomfortable on the return ride, but Alex was pleased with the weapons he kept. Two plasma sword emitters, and an assault plasma rifle.

Within a minute, all the weapons were distributed and hidden, and the prisoners were ready to escape.

The guards stood idle by the doorways, lazily manning their posts, bored with their mundane task. They were chatting with each other, paying no heed to the movement in the centre of the prisoner group.

Sru'sky had now stood up, and towered over the rest of the prisoners. Nodding to those around the crowd, Sru'sky prepared her assault plasma rifle, which had been given to her by Alex, and was slightly small in her hands, more like a large pistol accustomed to a Na'vi body size. As she switched safety to off, she slowly brought the rifle upwards, still hiding it among the crowd. Sighting the nearest guards, at the western exit, Sru'sky rapidly raised her rifle level, aimed for half a second, and squeezed the trigger.

At the western exit, the guards talked amongst themselves, unaware of the coming threat. As one began to tell a joke, the other listened in interest, not noticing the other sound from the crowd.

Within a second, the head of the listening guard became hideously burnt, and his body was riddled with incinerated impacts on the torso. Accompanying it was the whistling roars of a firing plasma weapon. Wheeling heel, the reptilian guard raised his own plasma rifle to the source of the blast, only to receive a similar barrage of fire to his body.

With a guttural war cry, Sru'sky charged towards the door where two guards had just stood. Behind her, the rest of the prisoners set about destroying the sensors and hacking into the door controls.

Having hacked all the doors open, Trion turned towards the crowd: "This way!" With his footsteps booming in the corridors, Trion led the front of the crowd through the labyrinth of the stadium's basement. Quirinth and Sru'sky sttod in the middle of the crowd, preparing to join the fray wherever it arose, and Alex headed up the rear of the pack, watching for stragglers and any guards following. Abruptly, an alarm sounded overhead: "_Warning, combatant escape in progress, all guards to corridor A29_." Up ahead, the prisoners ran faster, following Trion, who had produced a map of the corridors in his memory banks whilst hacking the door systems.

"Left here, then up the stairwell!" Diligently following, the crowd watched as Trion rounded the corner, their hearts full of anticipation of escape. These hopes were dashed when Trion stumbled back around the corner again, optics wide and bright with what seemed to be fear. "Guards, 7 of them, coming down the hallway." He whispered silently to the crowd. From the rear, prisoners were shoved aside as Alex forced his way forwards, Sru'sky and Quirinth in tow. "What now, genius?" Asked Alex, as he watched the shadows of the approaching guards on the wall in front of the corner.

Processing a possible solution, Trion looked to the group of prisoners and hissed: "Grenades, here, now!" A slight shuffle in the group was followed by 4 grenades being handed over. Trion whispered to Alex and Quirinth: "I'll throw a grenade down the hall, after the blast, jump out and fire down the hall at all angles." Understanding the plan, the mutilated teen human and the volatile predator readied themselves. Just as the comlink chatter was heard from the guards, Trion quickly threw a grenade around the corner, pulling the pin three seconds before throwing.

The blast happened just 2 seconds after Trion threw the grenade, and a tremendous boom shook the corridor, and filled it with smoke. In this instant, Alex and Quirinth leapt out into the corridor, and opened fire with their rifles. As the bolts of glowing plasma disappeared into the smoke, screams mixed with the sound of burning reptilian flesh. After just three seconds, the pair leapt back into the corridor, to avoid any fire.

After 10 seconds, Alex peered round the corner, to see all the guards motionless on the ground. That was what he thought until he saw one crawl towards a comlink. With the guard within reaching distance of the device, Alex sprinted out into the corridor, covering the 10 metres in barely any time, and drew one of his blades, activating the plasma edges. The last thing the wounded guards saw, as he tried to send a message through the comlink, was a descending shadow, and the hum of an activated plasma blade. Then a searing pain in his lower back, then nothing.

Sru'sky watched in shock as Alex brutally murdered the remaining guard, having conflicting feelings about his actions. _The guard was innocent, he need not be killed. However, he would have brought more guards, and had to be stopped. _Keeping these thoughts to herself, Sru'sky sprinted forwards, leading the prisoner group towards the staircase at the end of the corridor. As she passed him, Alex quickly withdrew his blade, briefly stared down at the guard he had just killed, then ran to catch up with his sister. As he ran, he remembered what the plan was: "We need to find a ship or ships that can hold all of us, and someone needs to fly us!" The prisoners nodded in agreement, and picked up the pace, eager to see daylight again.

As the group reached the top of the stairs, the crimson light of twilight shone over the group. Unfortunately, one last obstacle lay before them. The long alley they were all led through to get to the arena was still left to travel.

What was worse was that two groups of guards were closing in on both sides.

Desperate to escape, Alex opened fire on the party of guards to the left of him, now only 150 metres away. His rifle grew warm as the bolts tore towards the group, now being joined by fire from other prisoners, and return fire from the guards. While still running, shots from the prisoners mainly wounded the guards, sometimes killing them. After 20 seconds in the firefight, the group reached the alley, and now ran towards the landing deck beyond it, with only two corners between them and it.

At the rear, Alex and Sru'sky joined other prisoners in warding off the guards, slowing their attempts of recapture. Eventually, the group reached the landing site, where a handful of shuttles awaited.

Up ahead, Trion approached the nearest transport, shouting to a following Vulcan prisoner: "These are crime syndicate transports, they bribe the government for automatic authorization of planetary travel in these ships, so getting out won't be as much of a problem!" Finishing his sentence, Trion rushed towards the transport, his booming footsteps mixing with rifle fire from the Vulcan, as he took out an engineer standing by the boarding ramp. Once beside the transport, Trion watched as Quirinth took out the guards nearest her with the frightening brutality that garnered her species reputation.

Inside each transport, prisoners swarmed the pilots, killing them in their seats, then tossing their bodies out of the craft, as others fired on incoming guards.

At the back of the pack, Sru'sky fought off some guards that had gotten close to her. As she smacked one across the head with a mighty blow from her pistol, she felt a sudden, sharp agonizing pain erupt in her leg. Sru'sky fell to her knees, clutching a knife in her lower leg, planted there by an unseen guard.

As Alex winded one guard and disarmed him, he heard Sru'sky give a cry of pain, to which he whirled around to see her on the ground with a knife in her leg. Rage overtaking him, he looked at the guard who now stood over her, rifle levelling with her head. In a mad frenzy, Alex stole the winded guard's rifle, and charged at the guard, opening fire with two rifles, wielding each like a pistol. At near point blank range, the plasma bolts hit their target harshly, knocking him off his feet, side now covered in 3rd degree burns. Not satisfying his lust for vengeance, Alex leapt onto the wounded guard, and slit his throat, not bothering to turn on the plasma edges of his blades, and let the guard slowly bleed to death.

Ignoring the spluttering of the guard, Alex turned to Sru'sky, and grabbed her shoulder, and began to drag her to the shuttle that Trion was by. Fortunately, 3 other prisoners came and helped carry her towards the shuttle. As Sru'sky was loaded into the shuttle, Quirinth came over: "We got three shuttles with this one, the other two are leaving for Gliese 581 and Sirius! Where's this one going?" Trion looked to Alex, who looked briefly at Sru'sky and simply stated: "Alpha Centuari." Realizing that it was urgent to get Sru'sky and Alex back, Trion nodded in agreement, which was mirrored by Quirinth.

In pinch of irony to this reverie at a successful escape, a plasma bolt seared into Alex's upper arm, landing a glancing blow that burnt his left arm badly. Collapsing slightly, Alex looked towards the source of fire, and saw an approaching guard, the first of reinforcements. In anger, Alex aimed his rife and fired, the bolts covering the 100 metre distance instantly. Most of the rounds missed, but some found the guards arms chest and head, and instantly killed him.

Satisfied with that kill, Alex felt the ship shudder as its engines activated. On either side of the ship, the other three shuttles took off, their antigrav systems making the effective weight of each craft nothing, allowing the fusion rockets to accelerate the shuttles quickly upwards. Within seconds, Alex saw Sru'sky be pulled towards the group of other prisoners in the ship's cargo bay, and felt himself be pulled in the same direction by Quirinth. As his feet dragged on the metal grilled floor, the boarding ramp sealed shut, the hiss of pressurization lost in the sea of cries of pain from the escapees.

Having finally lost the adrenaline rush that started with the arena boarding duel, Alex finally felt the full pain of his injuries. The open slash on his face's left side began to pulsate, sending waves of pain that tortured him. There was some slight bleeding, as the burnt cells opened up slightly from his cheek flexing. Also, the injury of his left arm now seared even more. This all amounted in Alex beginning to lose consciousness, as his body succumbed to sleep to try to cope with the pain. As he closed his eyes, Alex saw Trion look at Sru'sky's injury, and then him, and then he barely heard Trion say to Quirinth: "They'll both survive, get the medi-kit in the ship's lockers, every ship has one, we need to get this knife out and seal the wound." Again Trion gestured to Alex: "He'll be fine for now, just let him sleep, I could use a stasis nap myself after this day."

Realizing that all of them would survive, Alex finally closed his eyes, the rumbling of the ship leaving the planet's atmosphere lulling him into a deep, well deserved slumber.

In the cockpit, the Vulcan prisoner who had assisted Trion punched in the coordinates of Alpha Centuari, the moon Pandora to be precise, and activated the warp drive. Unseen to the eye, a bubble of normal space-time surrounded the ship, as the space in front was collapsed and the space behind expanded. The ship began to ride a wave of warped space time at 4 light years an hour, which would put arrival at the Alpha Centuari system at just 3 days, half that of the trip away, as they weren't in a rush.

With a blink of streaked light, the shuttle vanished from view, bound for a familiar triple star system 300 light years away.


	9. Chapter 8

**Into the Darkness chapter 8,**

**Recovery and proposition.**

**25****th**** February 2894.**

_Ouch._

Alex awoke slowly, the pain on his left face and arm now having subsided reasonably. As he regained his bearings, he found himself staring at the metal ceiling of the shuttle's cargo bay:

"Guys, he awake!" A gruff voice sounded some distance from him. As he rolled over, aching whilst doing so, Alex saw 3 blurry shapes approaching him, 2 of them towering over him. At last his vision cleared, and Alex regained his memories of events before he fell asleep.

Without hesitation, Sru'sky swept Alex's smaller frame into an embrace, careful not to move him much: _"Brother, you are safe! Are you hurt?" _Seeing the look of concern on Sru'sky's face, Alex sardonically replied: "Apart from having my face cut open and my arm burnt, just great." Realizing that Alex still having his sense of sarcasm was good, Sru'sky released him from her embrace, after which he began to reach up to his face. This caused Quirinth to speak up:

"It's still there kid, we killed the cells around the wound to stop it bleeding. The skin gel in the ship's medical kit can't seal wounds that severe, you'll have to endure it until we get planetside. Your arm is fine though, some slight scarring but the skin was re-grown by the skin gel. We also used it to heal Sru'sky's knife wound." Glancing at Sru'sky's lower leg, Alex saw a scar visible where the knife had penetrated. Seeing him looking at it, Sru'sky reassured Alex: _"It's only sore." _

Sighing in relief at himself and his sister being fine, Alex realized one other matter: "Where are we going now?" Trion answered this time: "Alpha Centuari, specifically Pandora. This ship has a whole load of Na'vi that were kidnapped with you, or were already there. The off-world ones can work their way back with help from authorities." At Trion's statement, Alex saw that half of the ship's 'passengers' were Na'vi, half wore tribal kit, as the games had not bothered to change their attire, whilst the other half of Na'vi wore clothing from offworld. The rest were an amalgamation of Humans, Vulcans and a Grey, its small, grey body with large forehead and large black eyes quite noticeable.

After remaining lying down for an hour, Alex finally stood up, and walked to the nearest window to see space for the first time. What he saw was very strange.

Outside, the ship was moving at a speed that was much faster than light, and as such the surrounding space around the ship was pitch black, as light could not catch up with the ship. Only the artificial lights on the shuttle's hull illuminated the darkness, as their light was still encompassed within the bubble of normal space-time surrounding the craft. This sight caused Alex to realize that not much was to be seen outside the window, and not able to be bothered to do much else, chose to sleep until they reached Pandora.

**26****th**** February 2894**

'Attention, we are coming out of warp and are expecting to begin descent into Pandora's atmosphere within 10 minutes."

Alex was abruptly awakened by the escapee pilot over the speaker system. Having been going in and out of sleep since first awakening yesterday, combined with exhaustion and pain from injuries, he had gained numerous bags under his eyes to make his tiredness, and subsequent bitterness, easy to spot.

Groaning in pain and annoyance, Alex rolled onto his feet, his spot on the metal floor only having added to his discomfort. Like a lifeless drone, Alex shuffled over to the viewport, where the other Na'vi were gathering. Among them, he spotted Sru'sky, as she watched the viewport with relative ease due to her height.

Least be said, Alex did not have that advantage.

"_Move, short, pissed off human coming through!" _Looking down at Alex with surprise, the Na'vi moved aside to allow Alex to the front, as he would not take up much space. He managed to elbow his way to the viewport, just in time for the sight of supralight deceleration.

Outside, the warped bubble of spacetime around the ship disappeared, and the shuttle entered normal space over Pandora. Decelerating from roughly 36,000 times lightspeed to just twice that of orbital velocity, the ship experienced no g forces, as the ship had not moved relative to the space it occupied, so the change in speed was unnoticeable except by sight. As the ship came out of warp, the pilot began firing the ion thrusters to decelerate for entry into the atmosphere. Inside the ship, the completely new view of their homeworld stunned most of the Na'vi passengers aboard.

Sru'sky stared down in awe at the giant sphere in front of the shuttle, still trying to comprehend that everything to do with home, her entire homeworld, was so insignificant compared to the greater space between worlds. _My home is there, my friends parents are there, my life is there._

Memories of the first of two games she had to participate in suddenly came flooding back, as Sru'sky remembered how she inadvertently killed Du'husry, which had allowed her to escape in the long run. The look of panic on his face, the echoing screams as he plummeted off the platform mixing with the roar of the satisfied crowd. It took all of her pride to not break down there in front of the viewport, merely letting a single tear run down her cheek.

Looking down at Alex, Sru'sky remembered what he went through with her. The fact that he had to kill in cold blood to survive, as his opponent was intending to do so, and that Alex saved her own life by cutting across the path of that Romulan in the spherical battle. That particular incident cost Alex with a hideous scar and open cut, one that could not yet be healed. Looking down at him, Sru'sky realized a rather more sinister fact. _The games made him change. He was no longer the slightly timid boy I knew, he began to enjoy the acts he did, to the point that he unnecessarily killed a guard to secure our escape. _

Putting these thoughts aside, Sru'sky turned her mind to Pandora again, wondering how their parents would greet them upon their return.

As he watched Pandora dominate the window, Alex thought to himself of what to expect on arrival. _They'll probably question us about the games, and then send us on our way. And I just know that mother will smother me because of my, injury." _With this thought, Alex brought a hand up to his open wound, and made the mistake of stroking the cauterized flesh. He winced as he touched a rather sensitive spot, and Sru'sky then lightly scolded him: "_Do not touch, it will only make it worse." _

Rolling his eyes, Alex returned to watching the window, half realizing that many of the other Na'vi around him had begun moving back into the cargo hold for landing and disembarking. _Man, she takes after mother very much so, she never misses an opportunity to nag me about something._

**Vritri'lya city, North-Eastern Pandora.**

The shuttle landed on the landing deck with a rather loud rumble, due to the slight inexperience of the pilot. Quirinth gave an exasperated groan, and muttered: "Jackass, I should've flown instead of him." Walking to the boarding ramp, she pulled the open lever, all while yelling to the escapees: "Alright kiddies, get your asses onto the ground quick, I want you off this ship!"

The former prisoners marched off, to be met by 6 armed Na'vi guards, their carbon fibre and metal armour gleaming in the afternoon light, who were to escort the group to the terminal. As Quirinth watched the prisoners disembark, three momentarily paused at different times. First, Sru'sky stopped to utter a grateful: "Thank you for helping us get home, I won't ever forget you." Smiling sheepishly to herself, Quirinth watched as Sru'sky stepped out of the ship. _I like her, she's nice, unlike me so much. _Her grin however, turned into a snarl as Alex passed by, smirking while saying: "Thank you as well, and what a very charming way to see off passenger." Sternly meeting his amused gaze, Quirinth utter in a low tone: "Get off the shuttle smartass." Taking a moment to smirk in satisfaction, his grin only enhancing his injury's visibility, Alex swiftly marched down the ramp. _Ohh, that kid's annoying, at least I got out of the games without a scratch, unlike him_

Finally, Trion moved out of the cargo hold, stopping by Quirinth as he crouched over uncomfortably, to ask: "Are you going to follow? The authorities will likely want to ask us all questions." Nodding in agreement, Quirinth followed behind Trion's 5 meter body, as she marched out to meet the other escapees.

As Quirinth disembarked the shuttle, one of the Vulcan prisoners was speaking into a concealed commlink in his ear. "Correct sir, I am at Vritri'lya city, we have disembarked the shuttle and are heading to the terminal under escort, what are my orders?" As he marched, he was silent for a few moments as his associate talked on the other end of the commlink: "Understood, the leaders of the escape shall be with me when we make further contact. Ma'lekri over and out."

Switching off his concealed commlink, Ma'lekri turned his attention to the rear of the group, where a certain four were following the group closely. Slowing his pace, he waited for them to catch up.

After a brief walk, the group had entered the terminal building, a construct of metal and glass, complemented with sweeping curves, giving as little angular appearance to the building as possible. Once the last of the group were inside, the guards told them to wait in an immigration desk hall, which had been promptly emptied, shut down and sealed off in the half of the hall they occupied. Two of the guards walked off to fetch the chief of security and some doctors respectively. Ma'lekri had whispered into the ear of the guard getting the head of security a 'special meeting' request, and after flashing a concealed badge and briefly telling the guard of his work, got the promised meeting.

Within minutes the medical staff arrived, and escorted all of the escapees to the medical ward of the aerospace port. They were followed by the head of aerospace port security and the same six guards that escorted the group previously. As the group were settled, the doctors isolated the more severely injured, of which included a Na'vi teen girl with a concussion, a male Na'vi teen with a few cracked ribs and a sprained wrist, another male Na'vi teen with some internal bleeding, and Alex, who was displeased with the fuss he was receiving.[Get off me! Its just a flesh wound! GET OFF!]

30 minutes, one awoken post concussion Na'vi and one restrained and treated human later, the medics were done. The four more extreme patients had been fixed up reasonably, only given what was necessary for normal. Now, Alex's left cheek wound had been repaired. The opening could only be sealed with stem cells, but the flesh around the opening now looked completely normal, not bleeding and not burnt either, just darkened skin around the opening, showing a scar around the long, thin hole.

As Alex returned, the head of security stepped towards him, also motioning for Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth to join him. The tall, stern Na'vi female spoke:

"_I believe this talk is best had away from prying ears." _Understanding her, all four followed her down a series of corridors, marked in warnings saying 'no public entry'.

Eventually, the boss led the four into a small room with a few chairs, centred around a small round platform with hidden circuitry beneath it. Inside the room, Ma'lekri was already waiting patiently, his pointed ears alert to what conversations were about to be held. It was Trion who first spoke:

"What is the meaning of this? What is he doing here?" To this, Ma'lekri raised his hands in a request for calmness: "Calm down, mech. You should all take a seat before we begin." He gestured to the chairs around the room, to which the four gladly obliged, as Sru'sky sat down on the middle chair, with Alex and Quirinth sitting on their Na'vi sized chairs, their legs dangling freely slightly, and Trion decided to stand, as his bulk would only destroy anything he sat on.

Ma'lekri then pressed on: "I am here to debrief you on your experience in the games, and to put you in conversation with my employer. First off, my name is Ma'lekri, I have been undercover on the Krilsask homeworld of Borantha for 2 weeks, investigating illegal activities, chief among which was gladiatorial sport. I entered into the games about four days before our escape, faking my capture and imprisonment. I am partly here to offer my gratitude, as I was finding it difficult to construct an escape plan, in order to pass on the information I gathered."

Quirinth suddenly interrupted: "What sort of information, if I had to take part in those damned games I wanna know what was going on besides them." Ma'lekri took a second to regain his composure after the interruption: "Yes, well, the information suggests that the Krilsask government has been corrupted by an interstellar crime syndicate, the same one that has corrupted numerous worlds, most of them Krilsask.

With my escape, the evidence against the corruption can be put forwards now, in order to take action to prevent its spread, and reverse its corruption. Because of your heroic and possibly illogically desperate actions, you have aided the Union of Interstellar Powers in identifying a leading cause of crime in our systems. Because of this, my employer has made a proposition to you four." As Ma'lekri turned to punch in the communication frequency, Alex, while rolling his eyes, leaned towards Sru'sky and whispered: "Isn't life just great. We get back, next second we're getting dragged into more trouble."

As Sru'sky finished listening to Alex's comment, the communications station in front of them flared to life, projecting a 3D coloured image of a middle aged Vulcan woman into the air above the station. Suddenly, the image spoke:

"Greetings, I am Sra'llen Juroch, one of 12 executive board members of the UIP high command. I represent part of the defense administration, and it has been alerted to me, by one of our more experienced officers, that you four demonstrated exceptional talent in both the games and in executing an escape. Such skills could prove to be valuable to the interests of the UIP."

Clearing her throat, Sra'llen looked over the group in the room. Alex looked on with interest, Sru'sky the same. Trion looked on with slight boredom, and Quirinth seemed to be distrustfully listening.

"As it comes to my attention, you Trion, were already enrolled in a training programme, starting on your homeworld of Cybertron. However, before you could be transferred to the training academy on Remus, of the Tau Centauri system, you were taken captive by the rogue Kilsasks for the games. Is this correct?"

Trion dutifully responded: "That explanation could not have been more simply stated, madam." After this reply, Sra'llen addressed Quirinth: "Quirinth, I assume that having been raised on Mardoran, of the Illustirius system, you took part in the mandatory year long training programme for all Predators your age?"

Looking up at Sra'llen, Quirinth cheekily replied: "If I hadn't, chances are we wouldn't be talking." Ignoring the sarcasm of the response, Sra'llen pressed on, this time addressing Sru'sky: "Sru'sky, you were raised among the Omaticaya clan on Pandora, of the Alpha Centuari system. As such, your abilities are expected, as they will have been needed to survive such a relatively hostile world. Although you had no official training, you demonstrated considerable skill nonetheless."

Blushing at the praise, Sru'sky sheepishly said: "I am glad that you think so well of me." Sra'llen then talked again: "This time I address both you and Alex. I understand from Ma'lekri that both of you lost a fellow Omaticaya member in the games, in which you, Sru'sky, had to directly kill him or die. Is this true?"

The blush now disappeared from Sru'sky's face, to see it drain of colour, as she bowed her head in shame and let the tears begin to fall again as her body began to uncontrollably shake, as Alex looked at her in both sympathy and sadness for himself. Seeing the sadness of Sru'sky, Sra'llen offered as much sympathy as she could muster: "If it is any reconciliation, from what I heard, Du'husry's death was not on purpose, you merely accidentally tipped the platform too far in that game. It was not your fault, nor was it his. You both did not know the sensitivity of the platforms."

Sru'sky seemed to settle down, her body no longer shaking, but her head remained bowed. Satisfied that an emotional breakdown in the middle of their exchange had been avoided, Sra'llen addressed Alex: "I now speak to you, Alex."

In mild surprise, Ales quickly turned his gaze to the hologram again: "From what I hear, you have grown up in the Omaticaya clan, and with no human assistance have managed to survive a lifestyle that most non-Na'vi could not endure. This is truly a remarkable achievement of physical and mental endurance on your part, but I expect that you had some assistance along the way?" At this, Alex's gaze flickered very briefly towards Sru'sky, which did not escape Sra'llen's attention, even over a superluminal holographic communications network:

"Alongside this already impressive life you have led, you also demonstrated exceptional combat abilities in both the games and the escape. According to Ma'lekri, you also demonstrated signs of recklessness in both instances, which I hear have sometimes left their mark on your person." Scowling, Alex eyed his open cheek, muttering in response: "Oh, I'd almost forgotten."

Having fully questioned all four, Sra'llen pressed on: "Now that I have your basic background information of prior training, whether by institution or cultural tradition, I can now issue my proposition to you four. As I stated earlier, abilities that you four posses could prove useful to the UIP. This is why I am strongly recommending a career in the UIP military forces. Registration is free, and there are offices to register in on Pandora. A 3 year training program is standard, but some graduate after just 2 years. Normally, one must be 18 to register, but exceptions can be made, as is the case with you four, despite Trion already being over 18. After graduation, you would serve to protect the UIP and its interests in any potentially hostile situation. It is a satisfying career, with many benefits both in and after service, and helps promote and protect freedom in the UIP and other empires. I leave the decision up to you, it is merely a recommendation, one that I believe may suit people of your abilities."

Having delivered her statement, Sra'llen's image flickered and died, while the four addressees sat down, brooding over their thoughts. Seeing that some time may be needed to make a decision, Ma'lekri suggested: "Perhaps it would be best to return you all to either proper or familiar accommodations, before making your decision?" All four agreed to this, but Quirinth asked: "If we're going to make a choice on this, what's the point of me and Trion going back home before choosing? It'll be easier for us to stay and choose, then leave to do whatever." Agreeing with the logic in Quirinth's statement, Ma'lekri stated: "It would be best to return Sru'sky and Alex to their home first, and you and Trion can most likely be booked rooms in a hotel in the nearest colony to there, should you all wish to stay in contact." Again, all four agreed to this, and Sru'sky gathered herself together enough to say: "That would be best, it is always good to keep in contact with new friends. Also, you all will definitely be welcomed at hometree, especially by mine and Alex's mother and father."

Considering the offer, Trion accepted: "I will accept your offer, I am most curious about Na'vi traditional lifestyles." Similarly, Quirinth accepted: "I'm in, anywhere as dangerous as Pandora gets my attention." Even Ma'lekri expressed interest: "It is probable that I could stay for a brief moment, to witness traditional Na'vi customs, but I will need to quickly report back to my superiors within 4 days."

Rubbing his hands together, Alex turned towards the door and said, "Alright, lets go, I wanna go home." At this, he walked out the door, and turned left.

5 seconds later, he re-emerged from around the corner: "Where's the exit?"

**Omaticaya hometree**

Firi'sry stared at the evening sunset, letting the twilight rays illuminate her body. Dried tear canals lined her face, as had done since two days ago. When her children were taken from her.

As the memory of the incident again replayed in her mind, she remembered watching from afar as Sru'sky was dragged screaming into the vessal, and as Alex was hit on the head, and his unmoving body taken aboard too. What hurt Firi'sry most was that she had been unable to do anything, as she watched her only children, both blood and adopted, along with many other Na'vi teens, be kidnapped. Once again, Firi'sry succumbed to her sadness, as she burst into tears once more.

As she shook with her sobs, an arm wrapped around her shoulders, as H'nuptec joined her, attempting to comfort her, while maintaining composure himself. Firi'sry spoke through her sobs: "_2 days now, since they were stolen. My babies, gone. Why couldn't I help them?" _Burying her face in H'nuptec's chest, Firi'sry continued to cry. As H'nuptec watched his mate be in such pain, he offered a few words of comfort: "_Wherever they are now, we can only pray to Eywa that they return safely." _

The couple held each other close, their attention focused only on each other.

This caused them to not notice the incoming aircraft 4 miles away.

Onboard the light cargo aircraft, Alex was sitting down in the passenger bay, fingers drumming the floor out of boredom. The shuttle they had arrived on had been impounded for investigations into the faction controlling the games, so a shuttle aircraft had to be rented instead. The journey had taken 3 hours, the group was now trying to pass time as best as they could. This was made easier by Trion, who had downloaded some entertainment programs off the local wireless holonet, and had been playing music sporadically during the trip. Unfortunately, due to Pandora's more intense magnetic fields, Trion's less hardened functions, such as the music broadcasting, malfunctioned temporarily while they passed through particularly strong fields.

As Alex drummed the last few miles away, Sru'sky and the other Na'vi teens, two boys and another girl, were looking out the side viewport, eagerly watching hometree draw nearer, desperate for reunification with her parents. Suddenly, Quirinth shouted from the cockpit: "Alright, we're here, soon as I open the back dorm you can get out!" Alex leapt to his feet, only to be almost floored again when Trion did the same, which rocked the aircraft in a violent manner. This caused many things to occur.

Quirinth suddenly barked from up front: "Hey, watch it Tin man! You keep that up we'll hit the ground in a way you don't want!" At the same time, Ma'lekri peered around from the other cockpit seat to see what Trion had done, shaking his head in a very rare sign of annoyance. Meanwhile, Alex glared at Trion, as if saying _Idiot._

Sru'sky gave a similar glare, but dropped it more quickly than Alex did. The rest of the Na'vi teens exclaimed slightly, and gave less intense but altogether similar glares. In all of this, Trion's face heated up, which caused his internal facial radiators to work at a higher rate.

As the two held each other, a roar cut through their moment of comfort like a knife. H'nuptec leapt up, seeing a different aircraft landing in the clearing by the base of the tree below. Running down the spiral branches inside the trunk, H'nuptec was joined by other Na'vi warriors, including Firi'sry and Du'husry's parents.

The clan amassed at the bottom of the tree, readying their weapons against a possible second raid. As they watched, the ship, which was smaller than the previous one, settled onto the grass with a light burst from its jets, landing with only a faint thump. Within seconds of touchdown, the engines began to turn off.

Inside the shuttle, Sru'sky stood by the back door, fixed in a position to run as fast as she could towards hometree. Behind her, Trion crouched, having been too tall to fit standing up. Behind him, Alex had a concerned look on his face: _How much questioning will I get about my face I wonder? _At the front of the aircraft, Quirinth stood, with Ma'lekri in tow, waiting for the door opening procedure to start.

Finally, 10 seconds after touchdown, with the dying jets echoing across the opening by the base of hometree, the cargo door opened.

The clan watched as a door at the rear of the aircraft folded down, forming a ramp to the ground. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then a blue shape dashed down the ramp, followed closely by two others. As the clan watched, in awe and incalculable relief, the kidnapped Na'vi teens were returned, safe and sound. The leading Na'vi, Sru'sky, cried: "_Mother, Father!" _At this, H'nuptec and Firi'sry burst forth, to meet and embrace their daughter, all the while crying: "_You're safe, Sru'sky"_ Alongside this touching reunion, the other three Na'vi teens reunited with their families. However, one family would remain heartbroken by this whole event, as Du'husry would never return.

As the families revelled in those who returned, the clan began to notice the rest of the people coming off the ship. The first was a metal behemoth, easily almost twice as tall as tall any Na'vi, with silver armour gleaming in the sunlight, its angular edges and symmetrical curves standing out in the jungle background. Beneath it, the ground shook slightly as it stepped, its sprawling feet leaving wide, deep tracks in the grass and mud. It appeared to be looking around the field, its 'eyes' seemingly curious.

Behind him, a being not too dissimilar to a human appeared. It was a man, but with strangely pointed ears, and a single eyebrow above the eyes and nose. Other than those differences, he seemed to be incredibly human-like. He appeared to express no emotion whatsoever while looking around as the metal being did. At a slight sound from the ship, he turned back towards it, apparently attentive to activity inside.

Alex was looking at the ship controls, thinking that his parents were waiting, but that this ship may not be for much longer, and thus took an opportunity to look over the cockpit. As he looked in, he recalled how the pilot pressed certain buttons and moved the wheel, and the way which the ship responded. He failed to notice Quirinth approaching:

"Hey kid, forgot my knife." As she took her weapon from the co-pilot's seat, she looked at where Alex was gazing, and then let out a laugh: "Don't try flying just yet, you aren't trained. Besides, if you fly like you fight, you'll get biiigg scratches all over the ship."

At this comment, Alex whipped his head around, and leered at Quirinth while saying: "You just love taunting me don't you, I've only known you for a few days yet you're already turning out to be a bit of a bitch." Quirinth smirked, knowing how to counter: "At least this bitch knows how to dodge, kid."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, and within seconds, Quirinth was running for the cargo door, with a raging Alex in hot pursuit.

As Ma'lekri looked on, he saw Quirinth run out in both amusement and mild panic, as Alex tore after her with a extremely pissed off expression. Shaking his head, Ma'lekri revelled at their antics while continuing to survey the opening and hometree. _Those two seem to have formed a heated rivalry already. How long until it escalates into a full social war is yet to be answered. _Even as he finished this mental thought, Alex had leapt a great distance, and had tackled Quirinth to the ground.

Rolling violently on the grass, Alex yelled: "YOU TAKE THAT BACK, BITCH!" Shoving Alex off of herself, Quirinth leapt to her feet, and replied: "Take it back, I haven't even started dishing out the main course yet, kid." Alex was now livid, and let out guttural scream as he once again tackled Quuirinth: "THE NAME'S NOT KID!"

As the fueding pair tumbled, they fell into a puddle of mud, continuing to brawl whilst coating themselves in a brown colour. The fall into the puddle had slightly winded Quirinth, which allowed Alex to grab her arm while slamming her on the ground. "Again, take it back!" Feeling a growing pain in her arm joint, Quirinth laughed and submitted: "OK, OK Alex, I take it back, bring it down." Satisfied, Alex let go, and then helped Quirinth up from the puddle. The pair then clambered up from the puddle, and straightened up, trying to look as decent as possible as they approached the crowd of Na'vi, in which Sru'sky and her parents had watched, obscured from view by the masses gathering around Trion and Ma'lekri.

As Alex neared the crowd, he remembered how he looked now. _Mud, torn clothing, opened cheek. Yup, my parents are going to flip._

Firi'sry grasped her daughter in her arms, inhaling the scent of her body as reassurance that this was not a dream. Beside her, H'nuptec suddenly looked up a a noisy spectacle happening nearer the ship. As Firi'sry looked up also, with Sru'sky turning as well, she saw Alex fall into a large muddy hole, brawling with another being. Ignoring the strange sight, Firi'sry whispered to herself: "_My son is safe, thank Eywa." _After a few moments Alex climbed out of the pit, with the other person beside him. Both were completely coated in mud now, which obscured their features.

The two began to walk towards the crowd, and Firi'sry only now noticed the two others who had gotten off the ship, as the other person started towards them. As the other one left, Alex turned his gaze to the crowd, scanning the crowd for Sru'sky: "_Sru'sky, you could have waited for me before disappearing. Where are you?"_

At her brother's sarcastic tone, Sru'sky walked out to him, and pulled him towards Firi'sry and H'nuptec: "_Brother, you are filthy!" _In mocking hurt, Alex replied: "_Oh, we get back, and first thing you do is complain about how I look. Where the hell are our parents, I didn't stay on that flight to just visit for the sights!" _Alex then turned his gaze towards Firi'sry and H'nuptec, and ran towards them, for once actually welcoming a suffocating embrace. Sru'sky quickly rejoined them, and the family enjoyed each other's presence, relishing in the long awaited contact after the abduction of two of them.

Their happiness was slightly by the loud voice of Trion: "Sru'sky, Alex, I am beginning to be uncomfortable with everyone staring at me." Alex looked over at his metal companion, and turned to his parents: "Why don't I introduce you to the others who came. They helped us in getting back here." Realizing that the three others had aided in their children's return, Firi'sry and H'nuptec followed Alex and Sru'sky, as they walked over to the other group. Along the way, Firi'sry looked over her children, noting that Sru'sky seemed unscathed. Alex was covered in mud, though that was no problem, unlike one other feature on his face.

"_My son, what did they do to your face!" _Realizing the feature that alarmed Firi'sry, H'nuptec gazed concernedly at the vicious hole in his stepson's left cheek and chin. Under their gaze, Alex merely stated: "I think we need to wait for dinner, then we will tell you all that happened."


	10. Chapter 9

**Into the Darkness chapter 9,**

**Recollection and departure.**

**26****th**** February, 2894**

The Omaticaya people began to settle down for the evening meal. However, particular celebration was in order for the safe return of almost all of the captured Na'vi teens. However, as the clan gathered on one of the middle levels of hometree, some of the returned escapees were facing a slight dilemma concerning all of them attending the dinner.

"I have my doubts that the tree will be able to stand my weight, so I should remain here."

"Listen, we've lived in this tree for years, we know what it can hold. Just don't run or jump if you want to be careful."

"C'mon, you're not going to let some tree beat you, are ya?"

"Please join us, the clan will welcome you."

"I agree, the structural integrity of the tree statistically has almost no chance of it collapsing."

As he listened to their reassurance, Trion look worriedly up at the spiralling branches. The branches themselves were wide enough for him to walk up, and after a few minutes of persuasion, Trion decided to risk it. He started forwards, slowly taking steps, testing the stability with each step. Behind him, Alex, Sru'sky, Quirinth and Ma'lekri followed, keeping an eye on the branches.

After taking twice as long as a normal person would, Trion finally reached the platform where the clan now sat for dinner. As he rose to his full height, he saw many of the clan strain their heads to get a better look at him. At this point, Trion was beyond his comfort zone greatly, being out of place amongst the technologically simple clan and being a non-organic being, a difficult concept to grasp for those who did not grow up knowing about Cybertronians.

A few moments later, Alex walked in front of Trion, and continued onwards to sit by his parents with Sru'sky in tow. Behind Sru'sky, Quirinth followed, her mandible cornered mouth slightly agape at the impressive sight before her. Finally, Ma'lekri looked up to Trion as he passed, and said: "It would be preferable for us to demonstrate correct mannerisms, and join them perhaps?"

Jostled out of his discomfort a tad, Trion nodded his head, and slowly stepped towards the clan. As slow as he could though, the ground did tremble slightly still as he stepped. Watching for his companions, he saw that Alex and Sru'sky were geaturing over to them, where their parents Firi'sry and H'nuptec were sitting patiently. Quiritnh was now joining them, and Ma'lekri followed suite soon after.

Once Trion stood beside his companions, he moved to slowly crouch down, and sit. As he moved, Quirinth quickly gestured to the Na'vi behind Trion to move. Just in time too, as Trion sat down on his aft with a shuddering thud, denting the wood below him slightly. At this, the clan stared over at him, while Alex and Quirinth shook their heads in embarrassment. Ma'lekri remained neutral, whilst Sru'sky giggled at the clumsiness that came with such a heavy and large body. As sheepishly as a Cybertronian could, Trion shrunk down, trying to conceal himself from the humiliation.

With the fiasco of Trion's arrival at dinner, the clan began to chat amongst themselves, often gesturing over the various returned teens or new escapees. Feeling absolutely ravenous, Alex grabbed the nearest piece of food, a large fruit with a juicy centre. Uncaring of Firi'sry's horrified expression at his cut, Alex bit into the fruit, savouring the juices as they flooded into his mouth, only to have half of it much of it leak out of the cut in his left cheek.

_Note, if I go to training camp, get wound properly sealed up._

Wiping the leaked juice off of his cheek, Alex turned toMa'lekri, who had noticed Alex's attempt at eating. "I think it would be best if you explain to them what happened to all of us, seeing as you were there the longest. And try to put it in simple terms, in Na'vi please." Ma'lekri replied: "But of course, Na'vi is one of many dialects that I have learned as part of my profession."

Ma'lekri then stood, and began to recite in Na'vi layman's terms the events of the games. The kidnappings, the reasons for the games and prisoners, the games they had to play, the deaths of those who did not return, and what the survivors had to do to last long enough to execute their escape. Unfortunately, Ma'lekri left nothing out, mentioning the injuries and deaths of those associated with the clan. Sru'sky getting stabbed, Alex getting mutilated and shot also, and Du'husry's final plunge.

Whilst this went on, Firi'sry listened intently alongside her mate, H'nuptec, her eyes welling up at the mention of the injuries her children sustained, and of Du'husry's death. She also looked over at Du'husry's parents and younger brother, as they were comforted by those around them and the Omaticaya Tsahik while they shed tears of grief. Beside Firi'sry, Alex had continued attempting to eat a fruit, with varying success.[Half of it ended up on his shoulder]. Quirinth and Trion were sitting looking slightly bored, and Sru'sky was looking at the floor.

Finally, as Ma'lekri finished retelling the story, the Omaticaya Ole'tycan rose up and spoke: "_It is a great joy to have those who we had thought to be lost returned to us again. We are also honoured by the presence of those who helped in their safe return. However, not all of our people could return. Du'husry will now reside in Eywa. His body may be lost from her embrace, but his spirit will find its way back, as we shal pray for it. And it shall also have been carried back in the hearts of those who were able to return._

_However, the greatest tragedy of all is the way in which he died. Forced to fight another one of his clan, or be killed for refusal. Though at first he submitted and fought, he eventually stood down, and by doing so died with honour. He stood down so that his clan sister Sru'sky could return safely, and he shall always be remembered for his sacrifice._

_We must also honour Alex and Sru'sky, for their courage in the face of such trials. They fought their own kind respectively, and prevailed in their plights, although not without cost of harm. To be equally honoured are the ones who also took part in the escape. Trion, Quirinth and Ma'lekri. You now hold an honorary place among the Omaticaya people._

As the Ole'tycan finished, the clan erupted into cheering, whilst Sru'sky recovered from a fresh set of tears brought on by the details of Du'husry's death. Seeing his daughter in such pain, H'nuptec moved to place a comforting arm on her shoulder and back. On Sru'sky's other side, Alex had abandoned the troublesome fruit, and had now turned to the other three escapees: "C'mon, meet my parents, they will like you."

After a few minutes, Sru'sky had calmed down and had dried her tears. Seeing that she would be fine, H'nuptec turned to the other three escapees, and said in English: "Thank you for helping my children return. I would like to be introduced to you, and know what you are exactly."

Quirinth, being the more outgoing of the three, started: "I'm Quirinth, I'm a female member of a type of people commonly known as Predators. I must say, your son is quite the fighter for a human, almost as good as me."

Firi'sry smiled at this, while Alex partially seethed at the comment: "Thank you, he has learned well for a human among the clan. There is nothing on this world like you at all, but also from what I can see, you have developed a rivalry of sorts with my son." Quirinth chuckled at this, and said to Alex: "Guess your mother can read you like a book, just like I can beat you any day." "Didn't I pin you on the ground just under an hour ago?" "Only because I let you win."

H'nuptec then decided to play his hand at meetings: "From what we have heard, your kind are gifted hunters by nature. Your appearance is certainly frightening for one so small." Quirinth laughed good-heartedly, and replied: "I'm not short, you're just tall. We're not the shortest kind of people there. And yes, I am intimidating." At this she flared her mandible edged mouth open: "And I like it."

Quirinth then walked over to the food, during which Ma'lekri introduced himself: "As you have already heard, my name is Ma'lekri. I am of the Vulcan species, one very similar in appearance to humans. It is a prestigious and rare occasion to be inside such a centre of culture for the Na'vi species. If I am not mistaken, you both are hunters for the clan, with additional skills being weaving and cooking?"

H'nuptec and Firi'sry were taken aback slightly by the surprising amount of detail this Vulcan knew about them in such a short time. What also unnerved them was the complete lack of emotion that Ma'lekri had shown during his whole duration at hometree. Ma'lekri, being gifted at also reading emotions on people's faces, addressed this matter: "I take it you are curious of my lack of emotional expression. It is merely a customary and effective tradition practised by most Vulcans. Removing emotion from one's life can allow clearer and more logical thinking, leading to a more planned and ultimately more beneficial path in one's life. As a reminder though, the fact alone that I do not express emotions does not mean that I do not understand the reasons for emotions and the nature of each one."

Firi'sry and H'nuptec understood the thinking behind such a tradition, but could not imagine themselves practising it. With two strangers introduced, the two Na'vi shifted their attention to Trion, who had all this time been trying to make himself inconspicuous amongst the crowd, which if he did would have been quite the paradox.

"Why did you bring this metal creature with you, did you use it to help you escape?" H'nuptec stared up at Trion's facial plating, only to recoil in shock when an insulted Trion let loose a rather violent outburst in Na'vi: "_Pardon me! I am not just a creature, I can think and feel emotions exactly as you do, and as you would so say it, you are an idiot for thinking otherwise!" _

As an indignant Trion rose to walk away, the four others rose in turn to calm him down: "Easy now, they just need to be taught about your kind." Said Alex, as he nervously watched Trion's scowling face. Quirinth then quipped: "C'mon big guy, you kept saying that I have a short temper, and your gonna blow you're welding over one misunderstanding?"

Realizing he overreacted, Trion sat down slowly again, and the other four settled again, keeping and eye on the cooling mech. Firi'sry spoke next: "_We apologize, we did not understand what you are. Please, tell us."_ Trion nonchalantly replied: "Simply explained, my race is different from every other race in existence. Most species are living, with organs, blood and other organic substances being part of them all. My race, however, are basically a people who live in machine bodies. We get our sustenance from different sources, our race also varies greatly in size by the time we are fully developed. What is most unique is our ability to change our shape to adapt to an environment or to disguise ourselves. It is called transforming. However, unlike more basic machines, we think creatively and experience emotions just like any other species, such as your own species, the Na'vi, but in addition we can calculate and think just like any other machine also."

H'nuptec and Firi'sry were stunned that such a being could exist, let alone an entire race of them, despite rumours of such beings circulating the clan occasionally. Suddenly, Alex spoke up: "Hold up. You never told us you could change shape, and if you could, why didn't you change into a weapon or something while we were imprisoned. If you'd turned into a big gun or whatever while we were fighting, I may not have gotten this!" As he finished, he pointed to his cut cheek. Ma'lekri added: "I think if you agree to my proposition, the first priority should be to fix that before anything else."

At this, Trion merely stated: "I couldn't change form in any way at the time, they implanted a virus into my processor that stopped me transforming. It was only removed when we arrived back on this world. Now I can transform my shape, watch."

Suddenly, Trion raised his right arm high into the air, and instantly the metal parts started to rapidly shift and move. Within 2 seconds, the arm and hand had formed a mace, which Trion then rested on the ground and released to show an extendable chain connecting the spiked mace ball to the holster that was once the arm. Afterwards, while Trion reformed his arm, Quirinth looked on with mild interest, Ma'lekri looked on neutrally, but Alex and Sru'sky stood agape, amazed that such a thing was possible.[In Alex's case, also pissed off that they couldn't have used such an ability to avoid the injuries both he and Sru'sky took].

As the group settled once more, with Firi'sry and H'nuptec revelling in the presence of their returned children, Ma'lekri made his intentions known.

"Whenever you four are ready, I would like to re-clarify my proposition to you all."

**5th****March, 2894**

After finishing introductions and reunions, Ma'lekri had explained what the UIC Defence minister had proposed to Alex and Sru'sky to their parents. Both knew what an honour it was to have such an invitation at such a young age, and knew that it would fulfil any hopes of visiting other worlds that both of their children shared. However, both the parents and children were unwilling to instantly part, as they needed respite still from the kidnapping. Sympathizing, Ma'lekri agreed, which was useful in that the acceptance of new recruits did not start until the 8th March, meaning less time to wait elsewhere.

While the family had enjoyed each other's presence for the week, Trion, Quirinth and Ma'lekri had explored hometree and gotten to know the residents. Ma'lekri was taken in by the wealth of culture and history, and was often seen studying the practices of the Tribesmen or listening to the storytellers.

Quirinth had taken an interest in the hunting and warrior practices of the Omaticaya, and had spent much time with the various melee weapons and also on the target range. Unlike Ma'lekri, whose humanlike appearance garnered less attention due to Alex having lived in the tribe, Quirinth found herself to be the subject of curiosity amongst the tribe along with Trion. Her insect and reptilian features allowed her to intimidate some of the younger Na'vi, but in an entertaining way to encourage them to ask about her appearance and race.

Trion wasn't adapting as easily. Wherever he went, the earth shook, and Trion had to make it a habit to shuffle his feet near to the ground to avoid stepping on anyone. While he was not moving from one place to another however, Na'vi would crowd around him in awe at the sight of such a titanic creature. Here was an example that life was not necessarily flesh and bone, but could manifest in machines also. Despite the general view of machines being clumsy and destructive, both of which Trion was, there was a sense of grandeur with such a unique being that attracted the more curious Na'vi. Their curiosity both unnerved and amused the 15 foot mech, and Trion saw fit to demonstrate small transformations of his arms, legs and hands to provide an amazing spectacle. Trion had not scanned a full vehicle suitable for his size, so he was stuck in his protoform body appearance until then.

Finally, a week after returning, Firi'sry and H'nuptec stood before their children, as the clan looked on at the five about to set off for training. On the wooden podium inside the lower hall of hometree, the Ole'tycan spoke: "_My brothers and sisters. Today marks a week since those young ones who were taken were returned to us. Such an act is due to the bravery of the five before me, tow of whom we have raised and cared for as our own. Now we bid them good fortune, as they leave us again, though this time due to more fortuitous events. They go now to train with others, in order to protect peace among the worlds out there. We bid good luck to our two members, Alex and Sru'sky, and may Eywa be with you." _The clan hollered in support, and at that point the Tsa'hik stepped forwards: "_We also give our wishes and thanks to the three who aided in the return of our clan members, and who will be joining our two in training. Let it be known that you will always be welcomed back here." _Again, a resounding holler from the tribe was the response.

Half an hour later, the five were boarding the shuttle, bound for the nearby colony, formally Hell's gate, to refuel and resupply, and then onto Keletari, where the shuttle for new recruits departed.

Outside the shuttle, Firi'sry and H'nuptec bade their farewells to their two children. As the two hugged their daughter, Alex looked up, some of the jealousy of Sru'sky being Na'vi resurfacing. After breaking the embrace, H'nuptec kissed Sru'sky's forehead, and said: "_Go my daughter, do well in all your trials ahead. I always knew you were destined for great things, but it seems my sights were set only on this world. We will always think of you, and be safe." _As he finished, Sru'sky nodded in agreement.

Next, as though detecting Alex's jealousy, Firi'sry knelt before him and embraced him, saying to him: "_My son, do your best, follow what you think is the right path, and do so proudly. We were always proud of you, for you must be special for surviving among such a different world. I always loved you, and always will, just like your sister. Good luck."_

Alex savoured his adopted mother's contact for a few lingering moments, before breaking it up, and making a promise that he and Sru'sky would stay in contact with them.

As the two siblings boarded the vessel, the rear cargo door shut with a rumble and hiss. After this, H'nuptec and Firi'sry watched proudly as the shuttle took off, and stood in the clearing beneath hometree, watching it disappear into the horizon, and out of sight.

After three hours, the shuttle stopped for resupply, and then continued on, breaking Pandora's atmosphere once more, and heading to the neighbouring moon of Keletari, the Na'vi capital. The interlunar flight lasted just 2 hours, and soon the shuttle was landing on a large concrete landing deck in one of the capital city's aerospace ports.

Stepping out onto the hard concrete, Sru'sky stared around in wonder at the world she had constantly dreamed about and looked upon from Pandora. From there, the criss-crossing patterns of lights gave the planet a jewel-like appearance, glistening brightly when Keletari hovered over Pandora at night.

From here though, the wonder was different. The mountainous towers and bridges that made up the city teemed with movement and activity, like an artificial jungle. The buildings stretched up to a kilometre high on average, some bigger, some smaller. Beneath them, multilevel roads gave passage to public transport vehicles and private vehicles. Some of the bridges were used by mass transit networks, like the maglev trains, which flashed by at speeds up to 500 mph.

What surprised Sru'sky was the air in the city. Though there were not as many trees, the air was relatively pure, and still slightly humid. Thanks to artificial photosynthetic scrubbers, the air was free from any pollution given off by industry or other pollution sources. The humidity was caused by the burning of the fuel in the vehicles. The aircraft would use algae-based kerosene to fuel their jets, which were not necessarily needed to be powerful, as antigravity drives made the craft's effective weight almost zero, and jets were needed only for manoeuvring. Motor, or wheeled vehicles still saw use, even after over 1000 years for humans, and longer for other species. These ran on either batteries or hydrogen fuel cells, the latter of which contributed to water vapour in the cities, adding to the humidity.

In all sense, the pattern of a species' advancement included a stage where their technology became almost completely devoid of impact on the environment, other than its actual construction. For all worlds and species of the UIC, that era had passed centuries ago.

Ma'lekri turned to the other four: "I welcome you to Keletari, the political capital of the Na'vi, and one of the key worlds among those controlled by the UIC. Unlike most species, the Na'vi decided to preserve their world as a nature reserve when advanced and uplifted, only allowing relatively small colonies in selected areas. Here is where they established their diplomatic centre in the UIC."

Alex had been paying attention, until he noticed a cigar shaped spacecraft land just 400 metres away. The craft itself was about 50 metres long, and had stubby wings attached to the sides, and what looked like sensor and communication equipment on top. Below it, a line was forming.

Noticing Alex's distraction, Ma'lekri gestured to the new craft: "That is the shuttle to the training base. The base itself is 50 light years from here, in the Staranthis system, on the planet Frosian. Be warned though, the gravity on that world is greater than on most homeworlds, at approximately 1.4 times terran gravity."

Not fully understanding, Sru'sky asked: "What is that compared to Pandora? When we were kidnapped, their world seemed the same as ours." Ma'lekri pressed on: "Your eye for detail impresses me, their world was at 0.8 times terran gravity, roughly the same as your homeworld. However, Frosian's gravity will be almost twice that. The higher gravity aides in training recruits physically and mentally, but not to worry, skeletal enhancing treatments are a necessity for all recruits, to give them a head start on adapting to high gravity."

The group arrived at the queue forming by the shuttlecraft. As they joined, many of those waiting looked in their direction. Numerous faces, male and female, of differing species were present. Two Cybertronians, one red and the size of Sru'sky, and another one, black and grey, standing not one foot shorter than the other one. Other faces included Romulans and Vulcans, although both were physically almost identical, and also Predators and Humans and greys. The greys were dwarf sized beings, just shy of four and a half feet tall in height, making them the shortest organic sentience in both the UIC and the known galaxy.

All of these people waited as the boarding officer checked their details before boarding. The wait itself wasn't long, and within five minutes Alex, Sru'sky, Trion, Quirinth and Ma'lekri were being checked. Ma'lekri had taken the liberty of printing the documented details of Aex and Sru'sky at the former Hell's gate colony before coming to Keletari. Despite their tribal lifestyle, all Na'vi still were registered in the records of the UIC population index.

After a brief check, which included a DNA scan and presentation of holo-documents, the officer let the four of them pass. Ma'lekri on the other hand, did not follow.

Sru'sky turned to him: "Are you not coming too?" Ma'lekri replied: "I have already undergone such training, and I am also needed elsewhere. My mission was to escort you to the shuttle, and now it is complete. I regret to say that this is where our paths diverge."

Quirinth looked at Ma'lekri, and then simply said: "Well, thanks for your help." Alex then stepped forwards: "Thank you, you gave me and my sister a great opportunity here, and I can't thank you enough."

Ma'lekri finished with: "The four of you must strive to perform commendably in your training. If you succeed, you will be incorporated into the Defence services of the UIC. Perhaps then our paths will cross again, in which circumstance I shall gladly exchange tales of my travels with you. I offer just one piece of advice to you all: Do not blindly follow orders without considering the consequences of them first. Do what you think is right, and what benefits the most people."

Ma'lekri stepped backwards as the shuttle's engines fired up, and the door began to close. As it closed, he formed a hand gesture, pressing his middle and index finger side by side, and his other two fingers bent sideways away together, and proclaimed to the four onlookers: "Live long and prosper, and good luck to you all."

The shuttle took off once everyone was seated, rapidly ascending into the upper atmosphere and into outer space, where it made the jump to supralight speed. Within an hour the craft had disengaged its warp drive and was now in entering orbit around Frosian. The world itself was slightly larger than Keletari and Pandora, but iots landscape was vastly different to either world. Many small oceans and lakes dotted the landscape, which was either barren deserts and mountains, or was covered in jungle oasis.

As the shuttle descended, the artificial gravity generators gradually powered down, exposing the passengers to more and more of the planet's notorious high gravity. The 3 Cybertronians aboard had no problems, but the organics struggled slightly under what was effectively half of their weight added. The only organics that did not struggle were the greys, due to their homeworld having relatively high gravity [1.2x earth] and their shorter, tougher skeletons.

After 10 minutes, the shuttle landed on a landing platform, atop a tall tower in the middle of a walled compound. The doors of the shuttle opened up, and the hot, dry air flew in. Having being accustomed to extreme humidity, the dry air was a surprise, although it was just as thick, due to the higher gravity trapping more air at ground level. As such, Alex and Sru'sky felt discomforted only by the dryness of the air.

As the passengers stepped out onto the landing deck, Alex looked out at the landscape beyond the wall. Suddenly, a harsh voice spoke up from behind him:

"Enjoying the view, newbie?" Jumping at the hoarse speaker, Alex spun around, only to see another Na'vi staring down at him. This Na'vi was male, about 10 feet high, black hair and had stone hard brown eyes, complemented by a steely gaze. The male then turned to the other arrivals: "Welcome to your home for the next 2 years. Best get used to the place quickly, for you'll be here a long time, unless you actually impress us here. Take a look around the land: To the north and south, mountains, to the west, ocean, and to the east, desert. This place is called the Frosian militia academy, and I can assure you that it will be the source of some of your worst memories in your lives. Here, we will push you, test you, you will grind every bit of effort you have into your training here, should you wish to succeed."

Grinning at the audience's horrified expressions, he continued: "For future reference, my name is Captain Gra'til, in case you missed it. As to this being the source of coming nightmares, let me assure you. There are only two ways you leave here: As a graduate, or as an insane mental patient. Be sure that you work hard, so you don't end up failing and going out in a straight jacket, something that I personally don not mind in the least. That is all."

With his speech finished, and while the shuttle was unloaded, some guides came up onto the platform and began leading the arrivals to their barracks. Along the trip, Alex was thinking: _Fuck, what was I thinking! If that guy's right about this place, I'm screwed." _

The guides split up the group by gender, with each going to gender allocated Barrack areas. As luck would have it, Sru'sky and Quirinth would get rooms directly opposite each other in the building they occupied. Alex and Trion were allocated rooms next door to each other, which suited them fine. With their rooms, they got their timetables of training regimes for each weekly cycle, and a map of the base. Despite growing up in a tribe, the Omaticaya taught all tribe members basic knowledge of the outside world, including certain words and how certain devices are used.

However, Alex looked out at the landscape beyond his window, seeing the barren desert through the solar cell impregnated window, and wondering to himself.

_Wherever life takes us, this is just the beginning._


	11. Chapter 10

**Into the Darkness chapter 10,**

**Training days part 1.**

**27****th**** February-6****th**** March, 2894**

Truth be said, their first week of training was brutal. The first day had started off easy, with introductions and a tour of the facility, and allocations of classes. What Alex noticed about the base was that, like all of the colonies he had seen, the average sized member of each species was able to use the facilities more easily than anticipated, with help from variable seating heights and rather tall rooms and doorways.

One aspect of life on the base was the dress code. Each recruit was allowed civies, or home clothes, to wear when off training hours. In Alex and Sru'sky's case however, their tribal clothing had to be stowed away for the sake of decency. Luckily, there were plenty of replicators on site which provided them with appropriate clothing at no cost. On top of this, there were two sets of 3 sets of uniform. The first was a formal set, used for special occasions, including visiting officials and parades. The second was a less formal classroom uniform. Both were made up of a light blue jacket and a collarless black shirt, with the jacket bearing the mark of the academy. Also, in keeping with sexual equality, the uniform included black trousers. The formal uniform had the addition of a hard cap, which bore the mark of the academy. The final uniform set was used for outdoor training, with multiple sets available for different environment types, including desert, jungle, snow and water.

The classes and training really started on the second day. First were the classroom courses, including military history, tactics, protocol, ranking, weapons and vehicle identification. All were rigorous, with tests being frequent in all classes. Second were the outdoor exercises, which when combined with Frosian's greater gravity, could become a form of sadistic torture. Under the blazing hot sun, or in the chill of the night, exercises of strength, stamina and endurance were held. Worst of all was that many of them were led by none other than the irritable Na'vi, Captain Gra'til.

**7****th**** March, 2894**

Start of the second week, and half of the day was to be taken up by a physical exercise , led by Captain Gra'til. After a worried breakfast in the mess hall, the recruits stood by the southern gate, standing at attention before the Captain.

"You will be taking part in a test of physical strength today, in which I expect that most if not all of you will fail, so I want you to at least try to prove me wrong. However, whether you succeed or fail does not matter, at least to me, since I get the pleasure of likely seeing you screw up royal like the last group did!"

The group looked around at each other confusedly, until the Captain barked at them: "Now get your asses up that road to the mountain face, and run all the way, NOW!"

In a panic, the group took off, staying in ranks to avoid being punished with further training. Unfortunately, this meant the smaller species had to work harder, including Alex and Quirinth, the latter of which was muttering many venomous curses about the captain which are best left undisclosed.

After a mile, which took the group 5 minutes of running, to the expense of the smaller members, the platoon stopped before a steep rock face.

Which happened to be a 300 metre steep rock face.

"You have got to be shitting me!" Exclaimed a physically destroyed Quirinth, as she stared up at the seemingly endless climb. Beside her, Alex was using all his unspent energy to remain standing against exhaustion and the added gravity. Not surprisingly, every recruit was gaping at the challenge.

Even the Cybertronians were concerned, evident by Trion muttering to a fellow mech: "I can't do that, I just can't, its impossible."

From behind, Captain Gra'til roared:

"NOW, this cliff shall be your test each and every week from now on. Every week your physical stamina shall be tested, by how far you can climb up the cliff before giving up. You are given no equipment, and shall use only your strength to climb. Rescue drones shall catch you should you fall from a dangerous height at a high speed, but that is the only assistance you get!" He looked over the recruits, some of whom were turning around to the rock face to get a second glance. "ANY QUESTIONS?"

Slowly, one Vulcan raised her hand. Gra'til pointed a long blue finger at her: "Yes, what is it?"

She spoke: "Do any different circumstances apply if one has a fear of heights, such as myself?"

A tense silence followed, during which the Captain slowly walked over to her. No one dared look at them both, in fear of ensuing the captain's wrath further. The captain slowly bent down to her level, and whispered:

"Is that so? A fear of heights? Well, let me make clear what circumstances apply in that case." As he prepared to speak again, Trion and the other mechs made a smart move, and lowered the volume of their internal audio systems.

"NO SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR ANYONE, EVEN IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS, YOU WILL STILL DO THE CLIMB!"

The Vulcan woman, and the other organic recruits, winced at the loudness of the Captain's roaring proclamation, of which the echoes were still detectable.

"NOW, if there are no other questions, GET GOING! STOP AFTER FOUR HOURS! MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!"

**4 hours later, mess hall, lunchtime.**

"What do you think crawled up the Captain's ass and died?"

This was voiced by Alex, who was struggling to lift his fork to his mouth because of the agonizing pain his fingers and arms were in. On top of this, he was massaging a developing bruise on his side.

"I bet you he enjoys our pain, something which I would normally respect, but not now. Ow." Added Quirinth, as she lifted her glass of water to her lips, which hurt her arms slightly.

The four were now sitting together at a table in the mess hall, each sporting various injuries from the previous exercise. On top of Alex and Quirinth's minor wounds, Sru'sky had fallen hard on her back, which she was no nursing from the constant aching all over it. She also had scratches on her arms and legs from her particularly bad tumble near the end of the exercise. Trion had taken damage also, as he had dented his armour on his left arm and side, when he landed on it after a ledge he was climbing collapsed.

Sru'sky spoke in a grumpy tone, unusual for her: "I don't have hope for him easing up on the training."

As Sru'sky predicted, the training did not ease up.

If anything, it became much harder.

By the end of their fourth week of training, the four had grown used to being absolutely exhausted and battered after each day, organic and cybertronian alike.

Luckily, these four weeks allowed the group to gather companions, who either shared their interests, or their hatred of the Captain.

There were many notable people they grew to know. One of them was a brown skinned human, named Lanver Kones. A loyal friend, and a prankster also, he had a skill which attracted much attention and laughter. He had the skill to mimic almost any sound he hears almost perfectly, either immediately after hearing it, or after a brief practice. He got on well with all four of the group, as he was a very sociable person.

Another friend was a mousy voiced Grey called Mir'minsk. She was one of the most intelligent recruits at the base, and was always among the top 5 scorers in the tests. She had a knack for planning and solving problems, although she suffered slightly from her species' small stature. She was a rather shy person, and go on reasonably well with all four of the group, but more so with Sru'sky, who had been the first to make an effort of creating a social bridge.

After four weeks of training, almost everyone on the base was eagerly awaiting the first leave time, in just one week. The training was divided into semesters, three per year, over two years. Each semester was 11 weeks long, with a one week break between the 5th and 6th weeks. Basically, each semester was 12 weeks long.

However, the half semester break came after routine testing in all areas, routine twice each semester, with the end of each year testing everything the recruits had learned so far.

**29****th**** March**

It was now the end of Tuesday, and the results of the written tests were, well, varied.

"That test was easier than anticipated." "No shit, tin-head. You have a digital memory, you only need to learn something once. We all have to go over it again and again to make it stick." "Perhaps if you tried harder to learn first time, then you wouldn't have to revise later." "Maybe you should just show me your paper if your so smart!" "Will you two shut up, you're gonna give me a migraine!"

The four were walking along a designated path, arguing over the last test they had that day, weapons technology and maintenance. Trion had found no trouble with the test, and the other three were jealous of his robotic learning abilities.

As the four rounded a corner, they were joined by both Lanver and Mir'minsk, and in a deep, love doctor style voice, Lanver called to them: "This is the love docter, mm, yeah come over here and meet me my friends." Knowing that only one person could speak like that, Sru'sky pointed out the two, who had joined them on the right.

"How did you do on the written tests this morning guys?" Asked Mir'minsk.

"Could have been worse, of course lead head here had no trouble memorizing the answers." An irritated Quirinth pointed out. Alex then added: "Well our worst exam is next, the climbing test. Running, jumping, weapons and combat I can do. But last time I climbed that cliff, I only got a third of the way before I fell. I couldn't feel my fingers for hours after we finished! I've still got the scars!"

To back this up, Alex held up his hands, showing the healed cuts and slight scarring. Sru'sky then looked to the cliff: "As long as Captain Hard-ass isn't there, we should do alright.

"Don't stand around, get going!"

Begrudgingly the group made its way to the cliff, silently muttering insults or worries [Sru'sky: "Me and my big mouth." Alex: "If the droids somehow don't catch me, I'll aim for the Captain's head."]. As they reached the rock face, the Captain pressed on: "You will be working in groups of three for this test! Pick your partners, and get your asses up that cliff! Move it, move it, move IT!"

The recruits breathed a slight sigh of relief. Working in teams meant that some of the group could go on ahead whilst the rest rested before catching up, and then switching. Quickly, the group split into threes, many of which were gender based, as happened with the 6 companions. Trion, Alex and Lanver formed an all male group, whilst Sru'sky, Quirinth and Mir'minsk formed an all female group.

Within 10 minutes, all of the groups had climbed at least 100 feet each. What many of the groups had done was send their lightest teammate ahead to find the safest section of path up, while that member rested while the other two caught up. In the female group of the 6, Mir'minsk had been sent ahead each 100 feet, and right now the other two were climbing to meet her. Beside them, Alex had climbed ahead, while Lanver and Trion made their way towards him. Trion's excessive weight required even more careful path selection, and the need for rock stability meant there were less large openings or cracks to gain a handheld on.

Within an hour, the strain began to take its toll, as each group just reached the halfway point at 150 metres. One team, with one human and two predator members, lost their grip, and all of them fell, to be caught by the droids hovering nearby. The teams had been connected by ropes, so if one fell, they all fell.

Due to one member's weight needing extra caution, Alex, Trion and Lanver had fallen behind slightly, whereas the group with Quirinth, Sru'sky and Mir'minsk had surged ahead, giving a 10 metre gap between the two. At this point, Alex's patience snapped, and he turned to Lanver and Trion below: "Alright, we want to win this, the path ahead looks safe for 50 metres, let's just go straight for it!" Lanver shared Alex's determination: "Yeah, I want to give them a run for their money." Trion had been silently scanning the path ahead, and concluded that there was only a slight chance of a collapse, and nodded in agreement. At this, Alex turned back, and began climbing at what would have been an equivalent of vertical sprinting.

Above them, Sru'sky was slowly climbing, watching Mir'minsk pulling ahead to scout the terrain stability. Beside her to the right, a group was noisily making its way up. She turned to look.

And saw Alex climbing at a terrific pace, with Trion and Lanver only 2 metres behind. At the speed they were going, they would pass them by and beat them to the top.

Above Sru'sky, Quirinth looked at the reckless climbers: _Boys never seem to think do they?_

Her conclusion would be proven within a few metres.

As Alex climbed up the cliff, he saw that a ledge was only 40 metres away, and that the way looked rather easy up the cliff. With his remaining strength, he began to climb further, eager to have a small breather before the final climb. As he gripped the next crack in the cliff, some rock pebbles came loose, and fell onto Trion's face. Trion immediately shook his head to clear out the pebbles, and looked up to see some cracks forming where Alex and Lanver were climbing. Before Trion could warn them, he felt the cracks spread to the rock face under him.

As Lanver climbed, his fingers now in agony, he heard a rumble just below him. Looking down at Trion [big mistake at over 150 metres up], he saw the rock face give way. As the cliff collapsed beneath him, Trion let loose a panicked metallic roar, and began to tumble down the slope.

Unfortunately, the collapse spread to the rock face under Lanver and Alex too. Like dominoes, the two humans suddenly lost their climbing surface, and were soon falling, Alex screaming as he plummeted past the other teams, and Lanver maintaining enough composure to yell in a comical black voice: "I'm comin' Elizabeth!".

Luckily, the droids were close by, and they rescued Alex and Lanver just 50 metres from the ground. Trion's extra weight however meant that the droids could only slow his descent, and he hit the ground hard, though not enough to cause injury, just pain. Alex and Lanver soon joined, as the droids dropped them on a sandy slope, which they rolled down in a rather comical fashion, before rolling rather painfully into Trion's body.

Above them, the teams looked on at the recent losers, counting as the second team today to fail, despite having a lead in the climb before their fall. Now it was Sru'sky, Mir'minsk and Quirinth who held the lead.

At ground level, Captain Gra'til stood over the groaning mech and two humans: "Complete crap, all three of you! You picked the unstable path to climb, and you lost because of it! Let's at least hope you can learn from your mistakes and the other teams that make it!"

As the captain trudged off, Alex looked up at the cliff, seeing that Sru'sky, Quirinth and Mir'minsk had just reached the top, just ahead of the other teams. As he lay there in pain, he did not bother trying a witty response to the captain, due to both humiliation of the fall, and being unable to move his arms.

By the end of the week, the group of four plus their 2 newer friends were ready to kick back a bit. The fiasco of the climb had caused Trion, Alex and Lanver to be a topic of some gossip around the base. By Friday, the gossip could be heard whenever the three entered a room, whether they were alone or together.

It was lunchtime, and Alex had resorted to trying to ignore the gossip, which needless to say was failing. As he tried to eat his lunch, a small cheese and ham sandwich, he heard the group behind him speaking in hushed voices:

"Yeah, you should have seen them, the Mech went first, and then the two humans fell screaming like little girls just after. I just wish I'd had something to take a picture."

As Alex listened, he failed to notice he was crushing his sandwich. As he sat at the table simmering in annoyance, a group of rather burly looking humans came over to their table:

"Hey kid, you made us humans into a laughing stock at this base. Why don't you go back to school or something, you don't belong here."

Alex made a witty comeback: "Why don't you go back to school, they obviously let you out far too early to have learnt anything."

Within seconds Alex was yanked out of his seat, and was now staring into the bristly face of the tall Asian man he had just insulted: "That does it kid! You got till three to take that back, or I'll grind your face into the floor!"

"One." As the conflict went on, stares drew from all over the luncheon.

"Two." The atmosphere tensed, and to everyone's surprise, Alex spat in the face of the man.

"THREE!" As the man began to throw a punch, a tuna and pickle sandwich splattered onto the side of his face.

At the table, Quirinth smirked at her good throw. That smirk quickly vanished though, as the burly man grabbed a lump of mashed potato, and launched it her way. Quirinth ducked, as well as Sru'sky, only to have it splatter on the back of a Romulan's head two tables down. He retaliated, with a projectile of mincemeat, which accidentally hit Trion.

Within a minute a full on food fight had erupted. An all manner of foodstuff was hurled across the room, while participants and caterers alike ducked to avoid being hit. Had the fight drawn on for longer, then no winner would have emerged.

It lasted just 4 minutes.

As the cafeteria doors burst open, all food throwing ceased, and all of the recruits in the room froze at the sight of Captain Gra'til. The captain silently scanned the room, a vein becoming visible on his forehead, before saying in an oily, threatening voice:

"Who is responsible for starting this?"

Immediately, someone shoved Lanver an the brutish man forwards, and Alex stumbled forwards to join them, having been shoved by another unknown. The captain looked at their food coated bodies:

"Follow me to the Commander's office." As he turned, a small smirk was playing on the corners of his mouth, while the other three followed in fear.

"-complete disregard for the order that we aim to maintain in this establishment, if I must reaffirm my point sir. Punishment must be dealt immediately!" As the captain finished ranting, Alex had whispered to Lanver: "Why am I even here? That brute was the one who yanked me off my feet."

As the captain calmed himself, the commander, a middle aged asian human, looked on in stern interest: "From what I have heard from them, and from you captain, the food fight was started by Lanver there trying to stop Harrison from assaulting Alex. If anyone is most at fault it is obviously Harrison, for assaulting a fellow recruit is a serious crime here at the academy. Also, for those others who took part in the food fight, I merely think them cleaning the hall today and laps of the base will be suitable punishment."

The captain spluttered, visibly disappointed that such a minor punishment was to be carried out for what he considered a heinous crime. Instead of ridding the academy of two reckless recruits and a troublemaker, only the troublemaker would be expelled.

Realizing that the punishment he and all the others would receive was not so bad, Alex raised his hand: "Can we go now sir?" The commander did not look up from the paperwork he had returned to: "Yes, yes, go ahead. Just be sure to take your punishments, and have an enjoyable leave starting tomorrow.

Later that evening, the group of food fighters were trudging back to their barracks to rest and pack for the start of leave tomorrow. A week off would be plenty of rest for them, particularly if it was with family and friends.

Mir'minsk was speaking: "One hour cleaning the cafeteria, and 10 laps of the base, all the day before we leave! What's worse is that I think that food fight made me develop a fear of potatos."

Beside her, all of the other five exchanged WTF looks at her last comment, but otherwise agreed with what she said. Sru'sky spoke up: "At least our exams this semester went rather well for all of us. None of us failed anything, not even the physical tests."

"That's a surprise when you remember the spill you boys took on Monday." At Quirinth's wise crack, the girls started laughing, while the boys became embarrassed, with Trion's face radiating more heat, and the two humans faces becoming darker.

Alex then spoke up: "Whatever, a pass is a pass. Though I would have preferred not to have fallen." Sru'sky spoke again: "It is fortunate that we can go home for a week, I miss hometree and my family and friends there."

"Same here." Alex added in agreement. Looking at the other four, Sru'sky asked: "Where will you all be going for the week?"

Lanver answered first: "I've got a room in my parent's apartment on Earth, in a city called San Francisco. Nice place, very hilly though. Great view of the sea. Here, I'll show you." He pulled out his data stick, and switched on his camera files. Instantly, a holographic screen was projected, showing each photo. The golden gate bridge, still in great condition. The extended California Redwood forest on the north side of the bay. Looking at the pictures, Alex thought to himself that he needed at some point to visit Earth, which was where he was actually born.

As Lanver pocketed his data stick, Mir'minsk pulled out her's and said: "I've got an apartment with some friends on Sirius F, in the Sirius system." Switching on her camera files, she showed pictures of a rocky, mountainous world, with unusual black plants in the forests and parks. A shot of the sunset from the apartment showed the binary blue main sequence and white dwarf stars eclipsing the city's skyline.

Trion projected images of his apartment on Cybertron directly from his eyes, showing images of an all metal, cold yet unique world. Further photos showed the streets below chocked full of mechs and femmes, with the occasional organic species among the masses.

Quirinth showed images of her homeworld, which had been terraformed millennia before to mirror the predator homeworld. Her pictures showed H'nossos as a jngle world, not too dissimilar to Pandora, and also images of a cityscape from her family's estate in the hills.

Alex and Quirinth did not have any photos of hometree, but luckily trion had thought ahead somehow, and photographed their home during his brief stay there after the arena escape. It showed a crowd of children around a storyteller, the canopy of the rainforest below hometree, unnerved faces staring at Trion [the camera], and also a shot of Alex and Sru'sky standing by their parents, Firi'sry and H'nuptec.

Looking at the last photo, Mir'minsk commented: "Ironic, no matter what species you are, there is always one bigger than you." As she said this, she looked at herself, then Alex and Lanver and Quirinth, then Sru'sky, and then finally Trion.

Alex then finished by saying: "Well, if you're small, people underestimate you, then you gain an advantage in whatever you are doing at the time."

Little did they know that Alex had carried out this wisdom minutes before meeting them to walk back to their rooms.

Across the barracks area, the Harrison sat down on his bed, still annoyed that the kid had gotten off easy. He himself had been put on bathroom duty for the first week back after the week break, and he did not like it. As he sat down, he noticed a small slip of paper on his pillow. Picking it up, he saw written in cursive handrwriting:

"_Look out your window for a surprise, from your secret lover."_

Feeling suddenly excited, he leapt to his feet, and made his way to the window, searching the promised surprise.

Only to hit the hidden tripwire as he stepped up to the window.

As he looked out the window, the tripwire triggered a dart gun to the left of the guy. The dart fired towards the wall, and hit a hidden paint cannon.

Outside the room, a boom was heard, and within seconds the door exploded open, and the occupant emerged covered from head to toe in blue paint, along with his room, and Harrison roared in anger, not knowing who did this.

Alex never did say how he got into the dormitory, but it showed to Alex just how far a simple act of bribery could get you. All he sacrificed was his desserts for the first week back at dinner, and in exchange got the access codes to that dorm, which changed every half semester. Also he was doing that dorm a favour, as the guy had been a bit of a prick anyway, as the one being bribed had said.

The next morning, the recruits lined up at the landing platform, bags in tow. The shuttles would ferry recruits to the major spaceports, as where recruitment shuttles had departed. As Lanver lived on Earth, and Mir'minsk lived only 17 light years from there, they would ride the same shuttle as Alex and Sru'sky, bound for the Na'vi capital Keletari, Alpha Centuari. From there, they would take the required flights to their worlds. Meanwhile, Quirinth and Trion would board two different shuttles, as their worlds were further away.

As Quirinth and Trion began to walk to their shuttles, they bade farewell to the other four: "See you guys in a week!" "Perhaps you can visit Cybertron at some point!" Soon after, the two humans, the grey and the Na'vi boarded their shuttle, although Lanver and Alex hurried on board more quickly when they noticed Captain Gra'til prowling about the landing deck. The two human males still worried that the captain may somehow seek revenge, and did not wish to risk spending a week at home with a severe injury or something.

Within minutes all the bags were secured in the lockers, and the passengers took their seats. Many mutters floated around the shuttle as the engines started: "Geez, five weeks on this world, I'll probably feel like a feather on Earth." "I think I've gotten shorter in the higher gravity."

The takeoff was standard, the antigravity field perfectly making the craft's effective weight almost negligible, meaning the rockets need only fire to provide motion. Within 20 minutes the shuttle was preparing for the jump to warp speed, its dark energy amplifiers charging. Outside the ship, invisible to the eyes, the bubble of warped space-time formed, and the space in front of the shuttle contracted, while the space behind expanded. Like a surfer on a wave, the shuttle rode this distortion at speeds up to 50 light years an hour, whilst inside the bubble, the craft was not moving at all in relative to the space inside.

A few hours later, and the shuttle was approaching for landing at Keletari. Alex had fallen asleep on the flight, the hum of the ship's systems lulling him into deep slumber. However, the loud sound of the ship's landing gear deploying jolted him out of sleep.

Wiping off the slight stain of his drool on his trousers, Alex looked out the window to see the landing deck just 50 metres below.

Before he knew it, he was standing beside the shuttle bound for Pandora, with Sru'sky beside him. Alex was so tired at this point, he figured that being unable to recall getting off the interstellar shuttle was due to his body being on a sort of auto-pilot. After the checks performed by the security guard, Sru'sky sat next to Alex on the flight, this time Alex gave Sru'sky the window seat. Deciding to sleep off this flight too, the 15 year old brunette let out a yawn, stretching his tan skinned arms before examining the bags under his eyes. As the ship powered up, Alex once again fell asleep.

**2 miles from Hometree**

"Why did you wear your camouflage uniform again?"

"Because my other stuff is either torn or needs to be washed, now at least ask a different question before you drive me mad."

"You could have at least worn something more suited to the tribal clothing."

"Hypocritical for you to say that, isn't it?"

"…Shut up."

Alex smiled smugly at another debate won.

The two siblings had hired a taxi for a flight to hometree, and back at the week's end. Each had brought all of their belongings, which suffice to say could all be carried in a backpack each. Thankfully, all clothing made outside of tribal weaving now used synthetic materials, which all could not crease, and could fold up into miniscule spaces. Unfortunately, they still needed to be washed when dirty.

As their home came into view, Alex thought to himself: _Nothing's probably changed, and at least here the rules are more lenient. Maybe I can get a good night's sleep for once, because those beds on Frosia are utter shit._

Minutes later, Alex was engulfed by Firi'sry, whilst Sru'sky was squeezed in less than a second later.

"Need, air." Amused at her son, Firi'sry released him and Sru'sky. Gazing proudly at them both, she commented: "_Five weeks, and you look different already. Sru'sky, you're just as beautiful as ever, I expect some of the men have taken notice." _Sru'sky smiled bashfully, and replied: "_It is not just the Na'vi that look at me that way." _"What?" Alex snapped his head to Sru'sky in surprise: "You mean you get attention from all sorts of guys, yet I can't get a single girl to look at me in an interested way!" Sru'sky looked at both him and Firi'sry: "_My looks must come from a good source."_ Firi'sry blushed at her daughter's compliment, but turned at a new voice:

"_What's this I hear about men interested in my daughter?" _H'nupted walked towards them, beaming with joy at their return.

"_Father!" _As Sru'sky greeted him, H'nuptec laid a hand on both Alex's and Sru'sky's shoulders: "_Sru'sky, you look just like your mother, except a tad shorter. If what I hear is true, you have potential suitors at the base." _Laughing, Sru'sky embraced her father. Alex smiled, knowing that he would perhaps never have as high a position in H'nuptec's heart as his own flesh and blood daughter, but nonetheless was still beloved.

For the first evening, Alex and Sru'sky retold their experiences of the first five weeks, from their arrival and the location, to the final week. The two used their data sticks to show photographs and films of the base and the exercises. Unfortunately, Sru'sky had the gall to show the embarrassing final climbing exercise. Alex shrunk down as his parents watched him, Lanver and Trion take a massive fall off the cliff. His parents however, were able to see the skills they had both developed, regardless of their failures. H'nuptec commented: "_Alex, you could probably join Sru'sky when she is to choose an Ikran. The climb I mean, of course you can't tame one of your own."_

Alex nodded at this, not wanting to even try to tame one anyway.

As Alex settled down in his hammock, he looked up at the ceiling, and fell asleep, hoping to gain some rest before returning to the base for the second half of semester.

Guys, sorry I never left a author's comment at the bottom of my other chapters. This is my first story. As for slow updating, I'm in a boarding school, and I have recently been busy with work. Hopefully my school's Easter Holidays, 2nd April to 24th April, should give me plenty of time to continue. I am going to skip forward n the story in terms of times, as up till now I was establishing OC background stories. Please leave reviews, and any suggestions for improvements will be greatly appreciated.


	12. Chapter 11

**Into the Darkness chapter 11,**

**Training days part 2: Graduation and Right of Passage.**

**7****th**** October-10****th**** October, 2895**

It was now the end of training for this year's recruits, and today marked their graduation.

After two years of training, each of the six had performed commendably, and had each shown some skill in a specific area of training.

Trion had demonstrated a balance of skills in all areas, as was expected by one of his race. However, during his training, a greater ability at front line combat had earned him a proud reputation among the trainees.

Quirinth had performed to the general expectations of her race, and was a proficient assassin, being very stealthy in her actions, even without the aid of technology. Also, her hand to hand combat skills were a force many sought not to mess with.

Mir'minsk had shown a lesser degree of skill in close combat, but was good at long range attacks. However, it was in intelligence that she surpassed all expectations, which went hand in hand with her desire to join into the service of UIC espionage operations.

Lanver had made his mark with a surprisingly excellent understanding of machines, and as such was among the best in the year with engineering and mechanics. To complement this, he was an apt inventor, and was skilled in sabotage.

Sru'sky, now 16, had shown excellent close-quarters combat skills, and also had greater endurance than most organics in her year. She had made her mark as an excellent all round recruit, able to adapt quickly to any task that she was set with. One unique skill that set her apart was an understanding of biology and medicine, making her a potential candidate for the position of field medic.

Alex, now 17, had shown a commendable skill in both close and long range combat, and was sufficient in engineering and intelligence. However, his piloting skills were up there with the best of them. From the moment he set foot in both a simulator and a real aerospace craft, he had shown a natural skill for piloting small, nimble craft, and even large fortress sized vessels.

Now, all the recruits were lined up in their formal uniforms, having cleaned them the night before for the presentation. As part of the celebrations, the recruits were allowed to invite their parents to the ceremony. After some persuading, H'nuptec and Firi'sry had made their way to Frosia, to witness their children's graduation. As an added surprise, all of the other four of their friends would have their parents coming too.

As the recruits stood at attention, they waited in line beside a stage. They would go up one by one to accept their certificates of graduation, and their first positions. There was just one discomfort.

Captain Gra'til was presenting he certificates.

As the recruits all stepped up, Alex and Lanver were frequently leaning out to look at the Captain, looks of worry on their faces. By the time there were only 5 recruits between the captain and the first of the six, Trion, Quirinth had had enough. In a whisper, she spoke both of them:

"Will you two stop that, you look like bobbleheads. He won't do anything to you in front of them."

Alex looked at her, and said: "It's not him doing anything to us we're worried about, it's if he suspects us of doing anything." Sru'sky looked at Alex, then Lanver, and it suddenly dawned on her: "You're planning something, aren't you?" Lanver looked at her, and asked: "Why do you always assume we're up to something?" Sru'sky then hissed back: "Because whenever you two work together, someone ends up being humiliated." Trion then whispered back: "Look sharp, I'm up next."

The other five snapped to attention, whilst Trion stepped up onto the stage, and stood in front of the captain. The captain handed Trion his certificate, and said some words to him. Afterwards, Trion saluted Gra'til, and then went to sit at his allocated seat on the stage.

One by one, the other friends went up, until Alex was up. As he stepped forwards, he saw Firi'sry and H'nuptec in the audience, dressed in suits and beaming up at him with pride. Standing before the Captain, Alex stood at attention. The Captain shook his hand, gripping it quite hard, causing Alex to wince slightly. Afterwards, he handed Alex his certificate, and with a slight scowl, spoke: "Congratulations, Alex, I never thought you would make it." Alex frowned at this, and sarcastically said: "Thank you sir, I shall enjoy the rest of the ceremony now."

Walking to sit down, Alex looked expectantly at Lanver, who had just gone up to receive his certificate. As Lanver finished and came over, he winked at Alex, and sat down beside him.

Eventually, the certificates were all handed out, and the Captain activated his earpiece, and with a magnified voice spoke to the audience. Just as he started, Lanver activated a mouthpiece, hidden on the inside of his cheek, given to him by Alex.

"Today." As the captain said his first line, Lanver whispered a small echo of the word, and on the microphone systems, an unusually long echo sounded: "Today, today, today." The audience looked around slightly, and the Captain tried to press on: "Our fine recruits have shown their abilities."

"Their abilities, abilities, abilities.",

"To be deserving of the rank of a qualified member of the UIC defense and intelligence service, a proud and distinguished post." "Post, post, post."

At this point, the Captain had had enough, and gestured to the stage crew to fix the problem.

In the recruit rows, Lanver remained silent.

The captain tried again: "Ladies and Gentlemen." Looking around, he heard no strange echo, and continued: "We apologize for that. As I said, their skills have earned them this prestigious position, and none of this could have been possible without the dedication of both them, and the staff that taught them, such as myself. Enjoy the rest of the ceremony, and thank you." As the Captain finished, Lanver finished with the grand finale. A wet fart echoed throughout the hall, and the mortified captain looked at the audience, who were holding their laughter down, only letting out some giggles.

In the back, Lanver and Alex were using all their self control to not burst out laughing right there, and all of the other graduates were also trying to stifle their laughter. The Captain had by now assumed his seat, and now the Commander had stepped up to finish the speech:

"Thank you all for coming here today, have a wonderful time with the catering and music provided, and enjoy the day. I know I already have." At the last statement, more laughter rose from the audience, and Captain Gra'til turned purple in embarrassment. As the Captain stood up, he gestured to the graduates, who then gave out a great cheer, and stood to throw their Caps in the air, and then swarmed off the stage, collecting their hats as they went.

The after party was something to behold. Music was provided by the academy band, of which some of the recruits were a part of.

As the band played, people danced on the grass below the stage, and graduates and parents talked amongst each other.

Alex, Sru'sky, Firi'sry and H'nuptec were being introduced to the parents of Quirinth, Trion, Lanver and Mir'minsk. As it happened, both Trion and Mir'minsk had lost parents at a young age. Trion's father had died in an industrial accident shortly after he had been born, and Mir'minsk had lost her mother at age 6, when she was caught in a massive volcanic eruption on a Grey colony during a research expedition.

Trion's mother was a pleasant femme, roughly 11 feet tall, shorter than her son. Her armour was silver and blue, and had a fairly standard face style among femmes, complete with blue optics, like her son.

Mir'minsk's father was rather tall for a Grey, at 5 feet tall. He was intelligent, but was not the most outgoing or confidant person.

Qurinth's folks were interesting. Her mother and father had met at university, with her mother studying law, and her father studying medicine. A typical college romance to marriage is the overall story.

Lanver's father could not make it, as he had recently broken his leg, and would be out of action for 2 weeks. His mother was a small, stout woman, with the same humour of her son, and apparently also her son's skill of sound making, although not to the degree of skill Lanver had.

For a few hours, the party continued, and with each of them taking pictures, the memories were digitally preserved. The pictures ranged from the touching, to the unnerving, and to the downright stupid:

1st picture: Alex dancing with Lanver against a pair of Romulan males who challenged them to a dance off.

2nd picture: Sru'sky smiling while standing between her also beaming parents, a hand on each of their shoulders.

3rd picture: Mir'minsk watching in a puzzled way as her father drank his 4th glass of punch, looking slightly unsteady on his feet, his large black eyes looking hazy.

4th picture: Quirinth swigging some of her drink.

5th picture: Alex edging away from a drunken human female who had been approaching him.

6th picture: Captain Gra'til shaking H'nuptec's hand, while Firi'sry, Sru'sky and Alex stood by happily.

7th picture: Captain Gra'til walking off, while H'nuptec looked around at Alex preparing to throw a pie.

8th picture: Captain Gra'til shouting at Alex as he chased him, pie now dripping from the captain's face, and all while Firi'sry and H'nuptec were smirking, and their daughter rolling on the floor in laughter.

As the crowd dispersed, the graduates went to return their uniforms. After regrouping, the friends discussed what next. Lanver had decided to enter service in the UIC, applying for a position on Earth as a systems engineer. Mir'minsk had decided to continue training by joining the UIP espionage academic course.

The other four however, had decided to go straight into service, hoping to gain positions in the same division or location.

However, for Sru'sky, one more matter at home needed to be addressed before she could continue.

As the shuttle ferried its passengers to Keletari, Alex sat thinking of his sister. After the party, H'nuptec had pulled both of them aside, and told them that Sru'sky was ready to choose an Ikran, and that Alex was welcome to tag along and watch.

Both had eagerly accepted, and to their surprise, Quirinth and Trion asked to come also. Trion claimed that he was interested to see how the ritual worked, and Quirinth stated that she had nothing else planned.

The fact was that the training that both of them had during their two years would help them both in the climb up to the nests, high in Iknimaya, the Hallelujah Mountains. However, only Sru'sky would attempt to tame an Ikran.

On board, Sru'sky had fallen asleep with her parents close by. Alex had meanwhile decided to switch on the passenger communications system, and see what the news was in the known galaxy. Flicking through the news channels, he saw a recurring story, and focused on the channel where a female Human was announcing.

"-reports are not clear, but apparently a surprise attack by an unknown enemy took place just yesterday, on the world of Pheibos 3, in the Rothrian system. The attacks destroyed a large part of the orbital shipyards there, and no response could be fully launched due to heavy jamming signals during the attack. Reports also indicate that cloaking technology was implemented, which is part of the mystery behind this attack. In lighter news, a new mammalian species of-"

Alex shut off the screen, uninterested in a new animal, but his mind was concerned with this attack.

_If these attackers are trouble, I may have to face them if I join up._

Putting these thoughts into the back of his mind, Alex went off to a nearby bunk, to sleep off the rest of the journey.

**Pandora, Alpha Centuari, 17****th**** October 2895**

It had now been a week since their return to Pandora, and it was now time for the climb up Iknimaya.

Alex held onto the Pa'li tightly, not being able to resist looking down to the forest below. There were four who were to choose their Ikran, and three who would direct them or just tag along. The Pa'li were walking along a cliff edge, towards a massive natural ladder, made of smaller levitating rocks, connected by thick vines.

Soon the column stopped, and the riders disembarked. Looking down, Alex guessed that they were nearly a kilometre above the forest canopy. As he finished looking down, the group began to move towards the natural ladder, with H'nuptec leading the party at the front.

Ahead of Alex, Sru'sky was climbing behind her father, keeping pace with him easily. Higher and higher they went, until the Pa'li were left behind as specks. About half a kilometre up, the ladder ended, and Sru'sky found herself standing atop a large rock platform, while H'nuptec stood by, looking at a nearby group of vines.

As the rest of the group caught up, H'nuptec signalled as the vines drew closer:

"_Ready." _The vines were now 20 feet away: _"Not yet." _Now the vines were within 10 feet: "_Now!" _With that command, he jumped forwards, grabbed a vine, and started to climb. Following suite, Sru'sky grabbed her own vine, and snaked her way up in pursuit.

As the pack ascended, Alex looked down in slight fear. One miss and he was history. Swallowing the bile that had come up, Alex prepped himself for a jump. Luckily, one vine came remarkably close, and he quickly jumped to catch it.

Clamping his hands on the vine, Alex began to slowly climb up, hands beginning to ache from supporting his full weight. To solve this, Alex squeezed his feet onto the vine, and used them to push also.

For over half an hour, the group pressed on. Crossing a vast vine bridge, through the caves, until finally reaching the rocky outcropping beside the Ikran nests.

H'nuptec looked back, checking to see if anyone was missing. Thankfully, all had made it, and he smiled at the fact that both of his children had passed this segment, which in Alex's case, was his only segment. H'nuptec chuckled to himself as he saw Alex brace himself against the cave wall, bathed in sweat, made visible by his revealing clan clothing. Like all the other people on the journey, he had donned only tribal attire, like he had before. This was probably better, as any unnecessary items would've slowed the journey.

Alex thought to himself: _I should've brought some boots._

As Alex slumped against the cave wall, he saw an approaching aircraft. Seeing that Firi'sry flew alongside it easily on her Ikran, it did not appear hostile. However, it was quite a small craft. At about 20 feet long, and with a 20 foot wingspan, it was hardly a large aircraft. What was strange was that Quirinth was sat atop it like one would on a bike.

As she approached the cave, Quirinth pulled it up alongside the cave, bringing it to a steady halt, before disembarking into the cave. As she walked off, the jetbike flew into the cave, its body-panels splitting and shifting as it came in. Within 5 seconds, Trion finished his transformation and thudded to the floor, amused at the looks of amazement he was getting from everyone. Even Alex and Sru'sky were impressed.

Looking at them, Quirinth asked: "Have you started yet?" H'nuptec shook his head, and said: "You arrived just in time, the first hunter is going now."

Turning back to the four hopefuls, he motioned for the first one, a male named Kri'til, to go on ahead. Obeying the command, Kri'til edged forwards across the small ledge, the waterfall thundering in front of him. As he reached the other side, the other began to cross also. Trion's size and weight however, would force him to remain behind, but had given Quirinth a small camera device, so that he could see what happened.

As the Alex and Quirinth crossed over, they saw the Firi'sry and H'nuptec shouting guidance to Kri'til, who was still searching for an Ikran that responded to him. Soon, one turned towards him, a medium sized blue and black male, and eyed him aggressively. Letting out an ear-piercing screech, it lunged forwards. Quickly, Kri'til sidestepped, and wrapped his rope around the beast's jaws. Now it would not bite him, although in its frenzy it headbutted him in the side, sending him reeling across the plateau. Quickly recovering, he wrestled the Ikran to the ground, and grabbed its queue, and merged it with his own.

The Ikran's thrashing suddenly ceased, and Kri'til let out a breath of relief. After a few moments of recovery for both, the Ikran took off at the young hunter's command, both now bonded for life.

As Kri'til took off, Alex and Quirinth joined the Na'vi in their cheers. As Kri'til disappeared from view, Sru'sky found herself staring down her own Ikran. This one was slightly larger, female, and much more aggressive. As it lunged for the kill at a blinding speed, Alex thought back to an old lesson from his hunting training:

"_When an Ikran chooses a hunter, it will likely choose a hunter with a similar persona, so the two can live more easily in the bond."_

Alex mused to himself: _Guess there are always exceptions._

Indeed, as Alex thought this, Quirinth watched in fear of her friend, and was too wondering if the two would get on if they bonded.

The fight was slightly longer than Kri'til's, and at one point Sru'sky had almost had her neck bitten by the creature. As she ducked below another jab, she wrapped her rope around the jaws, cancelling that danger. Wrapping her arms around its neck, Sru'sky gave a shout of anger as she punched the creature's head. This disoriented the creature, and allowed Sru'sky to grab its queue to merge with her own.

As the neural link was formed, Sru'sky began to feel the muscles of the Ikran, its thoughts and memories, all as if they were her own. As she absorbed all this information, the Ikran regained its bearings, and calmly sat up, with Sru'sky on its back. As Sru'sky angled the Ikran for takeoff to seal the bond, she heard Quirinth yell:

"I knew you could do it, girl!"

Smiling at her friend, she took off, and as her Ikran dived, she gave it the commands to fly straight and level. With the wind now rushing past her, Sru'sky gave a holler of victory.

Watching his sister, Alex asked Quirinth:

"Did you fully think she could do it?"

A momentary silence followed.

"I had doubts, but overall I thought she could."

Watching his sister draw further away, Alex looked back through the waterfall at Trion, who had been celebrating at Sru'sky's triumph. He quickly made his way over to him, with Quirinth following. Unbeknownst to them, H'nuptec and Firi'sry looked back at them, averting their proud gaze from their daughter, curious as to what they were up to.

Approaching the tall mech, Alex asked: "You're alternate form, is it a two seater?"

Trion answered quickly: "I assumed you would ask that, and yes it is. You wish to fly in formation alongside Sru'sky?"

Smirking, Alex quipped: "I didn't know I was that easy to predict."

Trion then laughed, and quickly transformed into the jetbike, hovering just above the cave floor. Alex got on front, yelling "Shotgun!". Quirinth jumped on the back, and soon after Trion took off full speed after Sru'sky's Ikran.

As Firi'sry watched her son take off on the jetbike, she turned to H'nuptec, and said: _"I am going to join them, and perhaps help teach Sru'sky the basics of Ikran flight. Can you handle things here?" _Looking at the other hunters, one of whom was still searching, H'nuptec said: "_Fair enough, but try and find Kri'til while you're at it, best teach him also."_

Firi'sry planted a quick kiss on her mate's cheek, and then ran to her own Ikran, and took off in pursuit of her children.

Up ahead, Sru'sky and Kri'til had caught up to each other, and were meandering through the air, between the floating rocks. As she straightened out, she heard a jet approaching. Looking back, Sru'sky saw Alex and Quirinth closing fast, on board Trion's jetbike form. Demonstrating his skills, Alex seized control of Trion, and performed a tight corkscrew, which placed them directly alongside Sru'sky. As he finished, Quirinth gave a whoop of joy, thrilled by the stunt.

Finally, Firi'sry caught up with the group, and looked over at her children with pride. Sru'sky had now become one of the people, in every way possible. Alex however, despite never being able to truly be one of the people, had learnt much. His flying skills seemed good, and he kept pace with the hunters on the way up Iknimaya. On a world that was hostile to humans when unshackled, and would normally kill a human living like an Omaticaya, Alex survived. That in itself showed him to be just as skilled as any hunter in the tribe.

And perhaps a cut above the ordinary if Eywa allowed him to survive.

For two hours Firi'sry taught Sru'sky and Kri'til the skills of flying an Ikran, and also watched Alex fly with Quirinth aboard Trion. By this time, the two new hunters were moderately skilled, with Tsu'heylu providing help from the mind of the Ikrans on how to fly well.

The three Na'vi were now flying side by side, and were searching for Alex, Quirinth and Trion, who had disappeared amongst the floating mountains. As she started to fret, Firi'sry heard the familiar whine of the jet to the left. Looking over, she saw the jetbike banking towards their flight. Just before a collision with Kri'til, Alex flipped the bike upside-down, passing over the entire group inverted, with him and Quirinth giving yells of excitement, before flipping over again, coming to cruise alongside Firi'sry right.

Behind Alex, Quirinth shouted: "Show off!" Turning to face her and the Ikran hunters, Alex merely boasted: "Hey, I'm doing what I can with the next best thing to flying an Ikran!"

"EXCUSE ME?" Shocked, Alex looked at the dashboard, and quickly added: "But of course if you took control Trion, you would be the best flier by far!"

An awkward silence followed, until the dashboard muttered: "You just saved yourself there." Relieved, Alex asked: "Really?" The next remark he would always remember for what happened afterwards.

"Not quite, I'm still going to drop you, but you managed to earn me catching you." "WHAT!" Trion then sharply pulled up to the vertical, all the while Alex pleading with Trion to reconsider. Below them, Firi'sry and Kri'til watched in fear, and Sru'sky merely shook her head at their antics.

After pulling up a kilometre above the 3 Ikran fliers, Trion flipped to the vertical, and then upside down. As he flew inverted, Alex clung on to the handles for dear life, and hoped that his leg restraints were only manually detachable.

They weren't.

With a click, Alex was hanging from the jetbike, all while Quirinth watched amusedly, her tendril hair flying around her. She had even found time to turn on her camera on her data stick.

"Shake him loose big guy, I wanna put this on the net." "YOU WOULDN'T DARE."

Quirinth reconsidered, and said: "Fine, no web photos, but you're still going down." As she finished, the jetbike began to arc up and down, using the G-forces to throw Alex off. After a few tosses, Alex felt his fingers slip, and with a panicked yell, he began to plummet.

Far below, Firi'sry's keen eyesight spotted Alex fall from Trion, at which point she let out a scream of terror. Commanding her Ikran, she began to fly up to intercept Alex.

As he fell, he felt the weightlessness of his body. The freedom which the lack of resistance against gravity provided, the thick Pandoran air slowing his descent. As he fell, Alex spread his arms, and felt himself slow down, and as he tucked them in, he accelerated. Looking up, he saw Trion and Quirinth diving to catch him further down. At the rate he was going, he had a good chance of being intercepted, and decided to steer towards the light jet. Tucking his arms in, he pointed his body so that he accelerated to Trion, who was slowing his dive.

He came within 4 metres of them, and at that point, Quirinth reached out her hand. With Trion pulling up, Alex quickly was able to reach her hand. Climbing aboard, the adrenaline rush still pumping, Alex watched as Trion pulled clear of the rainforest with a good 200 metres to spare.

Onboard, Alex was hyperventilating, relieved that he was safe again. As he sat paralysed with trauma from the fall, Firi'sry, Sru'sky and Kri'til pulled up alongside. Quirinth yelled to Alex: "Learnt your lesson?" Alex ferociously nodded, and stuttered: "Yes, never call Trion something less than an animal." In front of him, the dashboard spoke: "I'll take that as an apology. Sorry for the drop, but it was to show what you'd be without me."

With what humour he had left, Alex remarked: "A splatter on the ground?"

The dashboard then erupted in electronic laughter, in which Quirinth joined also, followed gradually by Alex.

As Sru'sky laughed with her friends, overhearing the conversation, Kri'til shook his head, confused as to why it was funny. Impressive, but not completely funny.

Firi'sry watched her son laugh at what was only a minute before a potentially fatal incident. She then realized that if they were laughing, assuming that they didn't do this often, it only showed the amount of trust they had in each other. Each one formed a part of each other, completing them for what they lacked individually.

Trion, the guardian, protective of those he cared for, loyal beyond belief, and a gentle giant when not needed to fight. Naïve at times, but always wiling to understand that which he does not.

Quirinth, the big sisterly of the four, teases them in a friendly way often, but shows support when needed. A tomboy at heart and a thrill seeker, she places those she cares about before herself, even if she does not always show it.

Sru'sky, profoundly curious, a caring pillar of support within the four. The motherly figure among them, she is often the one who settles disputes among them. Always has friendly advice to offer those who ask.

Alex, he was the little brother of the four, despite him technically being Sru'sky's older brother. He was a thrill seeker, like Quirinth, and was protective of his friends, though not to the extent of Trion, and also possessed Sru'sky's curiosity. What set Alex apart was his unnatural determination to succeed at any task he sets out on. Humble, yet with an unyielding spirit, he cherished their friendship at all times.

Looking at them, Firi'sry also realized, with a pleasant revelation, that none of them would have it any other way.

Nightfall.

The new Ikran Maktos were resting back in Hometree, talking with each other beside the fire pit. Off to one corner, Alex and Trion were talking about the attacks reported on the news during the flight to Pandora:

"-If it's true, the attackers wanted to cause panic amongst the civilians of all UIC worlds. But according to sources they seem too well equipped to be mere terrorists or pirates."

"True, where would outlaws get tech like that? They must have developed it themselves for the UIC not to know about it. I have a strange feeling that it is an actual governing organization, perhaps one not yet discovered."

"Possibly, only a fraction of the galaxy has been mapped so far, even by ancient Cybertronian scout missions. Certainly during the autobot-decepticon war, the Cybertronian space of both sides never exceeded 1000 light years in diameter."

"At least one good thing can come out of this attack for us."

Trion was surprised by this statement: "How could this benefit us?"

Alex smiled and said: "Defence protocol, if an area is attacked, the UIC will reinforce it with existing or newly commissioned troops. That means we could all apply for postings in the same place."

Trion thought for a moment, questioning purposefully putting oneself up for front line duty, but also inclined to get a posting where friends were close by.

Later, Alex called Quirinth and Sru'sky over, and explained the way in which all four of them could get the same posting location. Like Trion, Sru'sky was mildly conflicted about putting herself in a front line role, whereas Qurinth enthusiastically accepted it.

As it would happen, all four agreed just two days before advertisements were sent out to all UIC defence academy graduates, asking for voluntary service roles in the Rothrian system.

In just 1 week, the four set off for the nearby colony, to catch the shuttle to Keletari, and then a shuttle to Pheibos 3, to begin their first tour of duty.


	13. Chapter 12

**Into the Darkness chapter 12,**

**The battle of Rothrian**

**4****th**** September, 2895**

Two weeks had passed since their arrival, and life on the space station had become quite mundane since then.

When Alex, Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth first arrived, they had expected a high level of readiness from the forces they would join. However, the defence satellites still were being repaired, and parts of the main orbital defence station were out of action until the replacement parts came. As such, everyone was on a high level of readiness, should the anonymous foes strike again while they were weak.

Luckily, the defence satellites were all reinstalled within a week of their arrival, and now only small sections of the station were as of yet not completely fixed.

Either way, the life aboard the station was quite dull.

Throughout the labyrinth of hallways and rooms in the space station, each of the four busied themselves with anything that could pass the time best. Sru'sky was busy researching more information on the attacks two weeks prior in the system. Quirinth had decided to take a nap in her room, having spent 4 hours this morning in the training room. Trion had gone with a shuttle crew, to help inspect the defence grid, spacewalking at each satellite that needed checking. Alex meanwhile, after two hours in the training room with Quirinth, had decided to make some modifications to his assigned fighter.

After 2 hours of work, he closed the paint kit, and looked on at his work, pleased with the results. Alex had been decorating the nosecone of his fighter with the image of a Thanator, an animal that Alex knew of full well in terms of its ferocity. The fighter itself was fearsome already.

Where the painted Thanator's mouth was were the 2 laser cannons, and 1 heavy laser cannon. The 3 weapons were fire-linked, or could be fired separately. Inside a concealed weapons bay also was a collection of deadly weapons. 4 medium missiles, with a range of up to 80,000 miles, and 2 light missiles, with a range up to 20,000 miles. Also in the weapons bay was 2 medium smart bombs, used for heavy attack. The fighter was unable to travel at supralight speed, and was dependant on system space stations as a result.

Feeling pleased with himself, Alex stood up and went to relieve himself in a nearby washroom, dropping his paint kit off on the way at a nearby supply bench.

Meanwhile, 10 light years away, an unknown task force powered up the supralight drives aboard their ships, preparing for the jump towards Rothrian. Aboard the command ship, the task force Commander issued final orders:

"I want cloaking devices fully operational as soon as we drop out into the system, no ship is to be detected earlier than we wish. Target any communications structures first, so that they cannot issue orders for reinforcements."

Below, a bridge officer saluted, and walked off to issue commands to the fleet. Turning to face the bridge's transparisteel window, Commander Kirth silently contemplated the coming raid.

_We dealt them a crushing blow once, now we return to finish the job._

Within minutes, the task force began jumping to warp speed. The 6 escort corvettes and 4 assault frigates were the first to jump, followed by the 2 destroyers and the lead ship, a battleship. At 50 light years and hour, it would take them only 12 minutes to reach Rothrian.

Later, aboard the command centre of the space station, long range scanners detected ripples in about 5 light minutes away. However, readings on scanners and visuals showed no signs of anything in the area. The officers monitoring the scanners stared suspiciously. Apparently this occurred before the attack took place just weeks before, and a repeat of this could not be good.

For a few tense minutes, the crew watched the screens, hoping something to show itself as responsible for the ripples, to be either friendly, or something they could shoot at and actually see.

However, the crew did see something coming, through the transparisteel window of the bridge.

Eyes wide in shock, they gave shouts of panic as the first volley of turbolaser bolts tore into the space stations shields.

In the station armoury, Quirinth was busy cleaning her bodysuit. She smiled contently as she polished the helmet, her smile visible in the V-shaped visor.

2 seconds later she was thrown to the floor as the whole station shook.

As Quirinth recovered, the alarms began blaring, and the station intercom system sounded:

"All gunners report to your stations! Pilots will scramble their craft immediately! This is not a drill!"

2 levels above, Alex stumbled out of the washroom, and began to run towards the hanger. Similarly, Trion had dropped everything and was now barrelling down the hallway, all thoughts of routine system checks forgotten. Sru'sky was now rushing towards the armoury, seeking her weapon in order to act as part of the defence force, should the station be boarded.

As the station garrison rushed to their stations, fighters began pouring out of the hangers of the larger ships, themselves still veiled by their cloaking devices. The cloaking fields dropped for the briefest moment during weapons fire, so they appeared as brief flashes in vision and sensor screens. The fighters were too small to have cloaking tech, but at this point that was not an issue, for the communications array had been all but destroyed.

This world was all on its own again.

Alex took off in his newly decorated fighter, the plasma engines soundlessly driving the nimble craft as he entered the vacuum of space. Outside, the space station was pounded by laser fire, and the fighters swarmed around the decaying structure. From afar, missile and laser satellites fired volleys of attacks at the fighters and larger cloaked ships, but to little avail.

In front of Alex, Theta squadron formed up, with Alex in position as Theta 8, out of 12 fighters. Theta 1 then issued first orders:

"Thetas 3 through 7 will follow me, Theta 2 will lead Thetas 8 through 12. Those with me will take on the fighters as they come, the rest hang back and defend the station at all costs."

As he finished, a volley of enemy missiles arced towards the squadron, which Theta 3 noticed:

"BREAK, BREAK!"

Alex rolled and dived, the G-forces pressing his body into his seat. 2 of the missiles missed, while two of them scored hits. Theta 5 was obliterated instantly by the impact and explosion, while the second missile scored a glancing blow on Theta 3's left engine. Theta leader spoke up:

"Head's up all pilots, their using particle disintegrator warheads in their missiles."

Particles disintegrator technology was a fairly recent development in weapons tech, proliferating about 30 years ago. A direct hit with a warhead would cause a chain reaction in the matter of the object impacted, causing it to disintegrate at an amount dependant on the energy level of the warhead. A glancing or shockwave blow would merely disintegrate weak parts of a frame.

With no chance of surviving in a fight now, Theta 3 returned to the hanger, one of two engines glowing less brightly than the other. The rest of Theta leader's group went ahead to tackle the incoming wave of fighters head on, and with all lasers blazing and missiles set, they met head to head.

It was 4 of Theta squad against 12 enemy fighters. Before passing, all four had fired off a single fusion missile. The concentrated nuclear explosions rocked all the fighters, as three enemies were hit, 2 disintegrations and one spinning wildly. The other missile arced around, tracking the leader of the enemy squad. As the missile rounded for another try, the enemy fighter deployed a jamming signal, disrupting the missile's tracking computer. Now the weapon had no target, and flew off into the depths of space, eventually exhausting its propellant.

Theta leader stayed on the tail of another fighter, blasting away at the sleek craft ahead. The craft's small frame made it difficult to hit, even with Theta 6 providing backup fire from behind. As Theta Leader prepared a missile, Theta 6 screeched in pain over the comms system, and behind Theta leader he exploded violently as another enemy's missile detonated just beside his craft.

Now Theta leader was caught in a sandwich of sorts, determined to bring down the enemy in front, whilst avoiding the firing craft behind him. Blasting away, he saw Theta 7 crash into another enemy fighter far away, too fast for him to issue a cry of panic. This momentary distraction was what the trailing fighter needed.

During Theta leader's split second of distraction, the enemy squadron leader bombarded his fighter's left engine with laser fire. In a panicked frenzy, Theta leader broke off the dogfight with the fighter ahead, turned towards the space station, and engaged full throttle. Darkly chuckling, the enemy squad leader locked on a missile, and fired.

Alex stared in shock as he saw Theta leader shooting towards the second part of Theta squadron, with a missile and 9 enemy fighters incoming. Then the command came over the comms channel: "Theta squad, intercept the fighters, they're going for the hanger! Divide and conquer!"

As Theta leader began deploying a jamming signal to throw off the missile, he dived down, with the missile not far behind. Alex decided to fly through the pack of enemy fighters, in order to split the group. Jamming the throttle forwards, he shot through the squadron before they could begin firing at him. As he passed, the squad broke, which allowed Theta 2 to direct Thetas 8 through 12 to begin picking off each fighter.

Ahead, a pair of fighters had returned to their original course, and were heading quickly towards the hanger. Checking his sensor screens, Alex saw no incoming missiles or fighters, and decided to pursue. As he accelerated, the fighters ahead began sending out jamming signals to block missiles. Mentally, Alex began thinking tactics:

_Those two could cause some serious damage if left unopposed. The rest of my squad is busy, as are the station turrets. I'm going for it._

Switching to lasers, Alex carefully lined the gunsight up on the rear enemy fighter, and let loose a two second burst of laser fire. Ahead, concentrated photon beams tore apart the fuselage of the fighter, and ignited the fuel cells, detonating the craft. Now only one fighter remained.

Checking sensors, Alex saw no incoming threats. But did notice strange signals approaching the station hull. Turning his attention back to the fight, Alex lined up and fired for 3 seconds, destroying the second fighter. Deciding to veer off now, he pulled up sharply, turning away from the station. For this, he failed to notice debris from the recently destroyed fighter ricochet off an invisible hull, headed for the side of the station.

Inside the station corridors, Trion and Sru'sky ran towards a source of commotion ahead. As it turned out, the enemy had somehow bypassed defences and had latched boarding craft onto the station hull. They were now cutting through the hull, preparing to raid the station.

As the pair rounded the corner, the wall of the space station fell away, a circular section having been cut by plasma cutters from the other side. As the smoke rose from the fallen wall, red plasma bolts roared into the station corridors, and almost immediately screams from the troops inside followed, as they were cut down one by one.

Whilst hiding round a wall, Sru'sky called for help, whilst Trion the other station marines fired on the incoming troopers, his plasma cannon searing flesh and bone: "Bridge, they've breached corridor 34H, and more transports are cutting through, why weren't they attacked by our fighters!"

"Copy that, sending reinforcements your way now, and ordering fighters to attack incoming transports."

As Alex helped destroy the last of the enemy squadron, the call came through: "All fighters, focus fire on boarding craft on the hanger side of the station. They're equipped with cloaking tech except when connected to the station, so attack just as they come out of cloaking! Good luck!"

Performing a quick split S, Alex accelerated to the appearing line of boarding craft. Theta squad had lost numbers 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12, and 3 had been forced to retreat by a damaged engine. There was only Theta 1, 2, 4, 8. 10 and 11 left. 6 fighters, who would join with about 12 others to attack the shuttles.

Flying alongside the hull of the space station, Alex locked onto the line of cloaked ships. He then released a burst of laser fire at the first 3 visible craft, and with a satisfied smirk, saw two become crippled, and one detonate.

In the corridor, two of the shuttlecraft had taken exterior damage, and beside them, a monumental explosion rocked filled the hallway with smoke, and a vortex of escaping air. The shuttlecraft had had to lower their shields for boarding, and very vulnerable when idle.

The vacuum made at where one shuttle had just been began sucking out some of the troopers. As Qurinth held onto a door handle 50 metres away, she used this time to fire off some shots on them, managing to wound one and kill two. Forunately, the station's breach fail safe kicked in seconds later. In each hallway near the edge of the station hull, emergency particle shield projectors could be switched on, to stop a vacuum vortex in its tracks. Before them, a shimmering blue layer appeared, and the vortex immediately subsided.

In corridor 34H, Sru'sky found herself cornered. 3 troopers were gunning down her limited cover, a stack of discarded crates. Becoming impatient, she grabbed one of her thermal grenades, pulled the pin, and lobbed it backwards.

The troopers' eyes widened beneath their visors as the grenade rolled towards their feet. Before they could turn to run, it detonated, searing their armour and flesh in an explosion of intense heat and bombarding them with shrapnel.

Seeing the coast was clear, Sru'sky ran from behind her cover, and began to run to help Trion 50 metres away. While going, she relieved the now dead troopers of any weapons and ammo they had on them that she could carry, 3 grenades, a knife and a handgun.

Down the corridor, Trion blasted a group of 3 troopers with a plasma shell, whilst the other marines gunned down the other boarding troops. As he finished firing, a call came in over his onboard comms sytem: "Marines, some troopers managed to sneak past our defences and are headed for the main reactor. If they destroy it we've lost this fight. Do all you can to stop them!"

Trion yelled to the nearby marines: "You heard the commander, move to the main reactor. Any medics stay to help the wounded." A Romulan officer then yelled back: "I'll stay with 3 others to guard this area and the wounded!" Nodding in agreement, Trion took off towards the main reactor, followed by over a dozen troops. As he ran, Sru'sky joined him at the front of the pack. She called to him: "We were fighting a diversion, while the other troopers snuck to our critical systems! We can't let them reach the reactor!"

Quirinth hopped aboard a nearby double laser turret. Powering it up, she rotated towards a distant group of fighters that were harassing some friendly craft. As she pulled the trigger, laser bolts fired from the nozzle of a ball shaped turret, 10 feet from where Quirinth was. The distance between the driver and turret allowed armour to protect the operator.

The bolts ripped into one enemy fighter, and in a sweeping arc, one more was destroyed. In this arc of fire, a friendly fighter would have been destroyed had it not been for advanced Anti Friendly Fire software. This calculated where every bolt or unguided warhead would fire, and would cease its fire or release of it were to harm friendly targets. So when Quirinth fired, a gap formed in the arc of laser fire momentarily as it passed the friendly fighter.

Continuing to fire, she focused on an enemy that was particularly skilled. As she followed him, he ducked and weaved, rolled and looped, all to avoid her laser fire. Growing aggravated, she switched to increased rate of fire, and let loose. As she watched the bolts tear past him, she saw them hit a target.

An invisible target.

As the bolts hit, a ripple of impacted shields spread from the hit points. Quirinth nbow knew where the enemy cruisers were. Grabbing her comms, she called the bridge:

"Commander, the enemy fleet is using cloaking fields on their cruisers, focus fire on sector 097234."

Up on the bridge, officers began issuing new firing orders, and directed squadrons to attack the space in sector 097234.

Looking ahead, Alex shook his head in confusion.

_How do they know something's there? Well, only one way to find out._

Swinging to face his fighter towards sector 097234, Alex pulled the trigger on his cannons, continuing to fire until they overheated. As the cannons began cooling down, he saw bluish ripples appear where the concentrated energy beams impacted.

_They were right, the ships are cloaked._

Grabbing his comms antenna, he shouted: "They're right, there are ships there. Fire at that sector, and we need heavy fire support, NOW!"

Seconds later, turbolaser fire erupted from the damaged space station. As it impacted the cruisers, the energy expended forced the cruisers to divert power to the shields, away from the cloaking fields. To help protect the more valuable craft, all the cruisers came out of cloaking.

Suddenly regretting his previous order, Alex hesitated at the sight of the fleet. The escort corvettes and frigates were a challenge, but the sight of the two destroyers made him shudder with fear.

And then there was the battleship.

_Holy shit, we can't take that thing on._

True to his fears, the battleship and destroyers began turning to the side, in order to expose the station to their full broadside arsenal. The true battle was now on.

On board the enemy battleship, the Commander bellowed to a stuttering bridge officer: "How did they find our positions! Cloaking fields were at maximum power!"

"Y-yes they were s-sir, but our shields extend past the cloaking field. Their weapons m-must have caused impact ripples on the shields, giving away our position."

The commander stared out at the battle, seeing his fighters engaged in fierce combat, and his fleet returning fire to the space station. He slowly turned to the officer: "Regardless of this design flaw, we shall press the attack. We shall overwhelm them, and their communications network is out of action, so they have no reinforcements to call upon."

"B-but sir, we've lost our element of surprise, and their defence satellite network is still functional with most of its satellites intact!"

"WE WILL PRESS THE ATTACK, OR I WILL HAVE YOU INCARCERATED IN THE BRIG FOR INSUBORDINATION! DISMISSED!"

The officer scrambled away, while the commander looked upon the battle, a malevolent smirk on his face.

After a good 20 minutes, Quirinth had become bored of her current duty. There had been no more boarding parties due to all the enemy boarding craft being destroyed, or not being sent to save them for when and if the station defences were weakened. Now Quirinth was taking up one of the more mundane tasks on the station.

Turret operation.

As a safety precaution, there was a significant layer of armour between the operator and any turret, so casualties were rare. She was currently seated at a point defence turret, blasting away at any incoming fighters or bombers that had somehow evaded their own fighters.

Meanwhile, Trion was enjoying his task of shooting down enemy fighters, as he was magnetically planted to the outside hull of the space station, nestled within a gap between two radiators, safe from fire, but with a great view. Using a fusion cannon rifle he had taken from the armoury, he was using his onboard targeting systems to score hits on the critical parts of fighters and bombers, including the engines and fuel tanks.

With a laugh of triumph, Trion watched as another fighter erupted in a sudden explosion. However, with each victory, not just for Trion, but for all the other marines, came the fact that they had just ended a life, a person with family and friends. However, every person in war had to learn the one valuable lesson if they wished to survive long.

If you start thinking of the enemy as you would allies or friends, that's when they get you.

As the bomber exploded in front of him, Alex rolled to avoid a radiator section, and continued towards the destroyer before him. Theta squadron been scattered over the battlespace, and now orders came from the Space station bridge.

Such as the order to attack the main generators.

On the destroyer before him, the shields had been disabled, and the ship was taking a heavy beating from the turbolaser batteries and missiles from both the station and fighters. Fire and debris rained from the weakened vessel, and now was the time to strike the final blow.

Diving for the planet below, and then performing a split-S, Alex locked onto the underside of the destroyer. The main generator was weakest at a bulbous protrusion, about 80 metres wide and 10 metres tall. Thankfully no fighters were nearby, and most of the turret fire was focused on the swarm of fighters or the station.

Accelerating, Alex prepared to release his smart bombs. Although meant for ground based targets, unguided warheads were used in space. By pointing the craft at the target and releasing the bombs, and then pulling away, the bombs would hit where they pointed at.

After a brief acceleration period, Alex pulled the secondary weapons trigger twice. True to form, the bombs were launched forwards from their racks at about 10 miles and hour. Alex then pulled away sharply, not wanting to get caught in the explosion.

The two warheads impacted within milliseconds of each other. The first hit the generator armour, managing to just puncture it. The second warhead detonated just by the hole created. Inside the generator, the fusion reactor immediately shut down, the delicate reaction now ceased. Within a second, the antimatter canisters throughout the ship, used for weapons and backup power, failed. He volatile substance fell out of suspension.

As Alex passed underneath the behemoth structure of the enemy battleship, the destroyer was ripped apart by the annihilation of many kilograms worth of antimatter. Thinking desperately, Alex used the battleship's frame to act as a shield from the blast.

The destroyer was now a collection of flying fragments, some as large as the escort corvettes the enemy were using. Many of these were flung out into the vacuum of space, while others fell planetward, where Rothrian's atmosphere burnt them up on re-entry.

The rest of the fragments damaged the fleet and partly the defenders. The blast disabled the shields the entire enemy fleet, the energy of the explosion overwhelming their capacities. Straight afterwards, the blastwaves ripped through the broadside weaponry of the larger vessels. The battleship. Which had been directly alongside the destroyer, lost its engines, interstellar travel capabilities and much of its communications arrays. The corvettes were eliminated by the blast, save for one, which was moderately damaged only, due to two of the frigates acting as shields.

The fleet had been reduced to a group of crippled or weak vessels. The battleship was now useless, one destroyer was left, though greatly damaged. Two of the frigates had been completely wiped out, the other two damaged, and 5 of 6 corvettes had been destroyed also.

Needless to say, this battle was over, all because of a lucky shot.

Aboard the now crippled battleship, the Commander stared blankly at where the destroyer _Devastator_ had just been. Behind him, officers gave the order to evacuate to the nearest interstellar capable vessel.

His reputation of no defeats now ruined, the Commander numbly walked towards the escape pod bay, where he would be shuttled to the remaining destroyer.

As Sru'sky looked on from the hanger, she saw the fleet's surviving craft regrouping to flee.

From the hanger bay, a thunderous cheer rose from all present, as the marauding force had been repelled.

"Theta 8 here, do you copy? This is Theta 8, anyone? For Pete's sake I know you're there."

Shutting off his comms system in defeat, Alex deduced that the blast probably knocked out his comms software. Shaking his head in amazement at his achievement, and annoyance at the lack of communications, he turned towards the station, and headed for hanger bay.

Inside the hanger, the remaining marines got out of their fighters, to be swarmed by mechanics and other crew about who blew up the destroyer. To every question, they said it was Theta 8. As they continued the barrage of questions and celebrations, Trion and Quirinth joined Sru'sky, in watching the remaining 5 fighters come home.

Outside the hanger, Alex looked at the last ones to come in. Theta leader had survived somehow, along with Thetas 4 and 10. Thetas 2 and 11 had been lost in a dogfight earlier. Also, someone from Delta squad had joined the four Theta squad members.

Having signalled that he had no comms, Alex went first, as was piloting protocol: All fighters with no communications are given priority to land.

Passing through the hanger bay atmospheric shields, he saw an immense crowd below him, celebrating the victory. As he turned around while hovering to land, the crowd moved towards him. Finally, Alex had landed, and he stood up to open his canopy.

As the canopy opened, the crowd erupted in applause, as the pilot stepped out of the craft. He quickly climbed down the ladder that had been placed there by mechanics. As soon as his feet touched the hanger floor, he was swamped by the crowd. Congratulating him, asking him how he did it, and an all manner of other sayings were put towards him.

As he saw Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth walking over, he quickly removed his helmet. From underneath the blackened visor came a human with fair face, with short brown hair, eyes as red as rubies, and a vicious scar on the left side of his face.

As soon as Alex had removed his helmet, Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth had ran over to also congratulate him. As it turned out, Alex had not been the only one to commit heroic acts today.

Sru'sky had managed to take out an entire squad of troopers after losing all of her own whilst defending a service corridor.

Trion had scored many kills when he acted as a living turret, and had helped by taking out most of the fleeing troopers.

Quirinth had been extremely useful, in that she prevented any troopers from accessing the main reactor core rooms, thus saving this station from being crippled.

As the celebrations continued on for several hours, it became apparent that these four were going to have a great impact wherever they went.


	14. Chapter 13

**Into the Darkness chapter 13,**

**Social madness and Changing tactics**

**4****th**** March, 2898**

Two and a half years passed following the battle of Rothrian. Two and a half years since the assailants responsible for the attacks started.

In the aftermath of the battle, the Union of Interstellar Powers met in an emergency parliament meeting. Investigations were made into the nature of the attacks, and eventually, within week, they found their answer.

A collection of 2 previously unidentified alien civilizations, the tall, avian species known as the Leg'hrul, and a medium sized reptilian species called the Kronigri. The Leg'hruls, originating on a mountainous, tropical world, were on average 7 and a half feet tall, with vibrant red and blue feathers, and wicked beaks full of razor sharp teeth, fully carnivorous by nature. Essentially, they could be compared to sentient birds of prey.

The Kronigri were a different story. Growing on a hot, desert planet, they adapted easily due to readily available sunlight. With rounded heads with sharp teeth, and wicked spikes over their bodies, these creatures knew no enemies.

The two races had joined together in an apparently stable alliance, and had used the attacks on Rothrian as an open declaration of war, believing that the democratic ways of the UIP were corrupt and evil, unlike their apparently peaceful monarchies.

Within another month, the UIP had no choice but to declare war in return, as multiple assassinations and attacks wrecked their smaller systems, in a way to goad them to return the declaration of war.

And it worked.

Since then, the war had escalated to one of attrition, neither side giving the other any edge. There were times when one side gained the upper hand, only to be pushed back again by their opponent. By this stage, the war seemed to only be able to end when one side simply couldn't support its own war effort.

From the fires of war though, rose heroes and villains on both sides.

As in all war, neither side is totally innocent. Great acts of justice and heroism were committed on both sides, many by the same individuals. These heroes and villains became household names, the new celebrities among the public of both sides.

Some of these occupations as heroes and celebrities were filled by four familiar people.

In the short 2 and a half years since the Battle of Rothrian, Alex, Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth had attracted much attention to themselves for their achievements on the battlefield, especially in such a short time. The people of the UIC now looked up to them with pride and admiration, whether being children, teen or adult, high or low status, those four became renowned for their acts.

Quirinth, also nicknamed the Savage Huntress. She had earned a reputation as a formidable front line warrior, unsurpassed in skill in close combat, using her iconic double wrist blades to slice through any who attempted to bring harm to her or those she cared for. Her tomboyish nature, and sarcastic wit, became trademarks of her celebrity status.

Trion, nicknamed the Silver Guardian. He had gained fame through his destructive capabilities, but also for his gentle nature, and as a comical feature, his slightly apparent lower than average intelligence for a Cybertronian. He was the mostly-gentle giant of the four, and would exercise all peaceful options before resorting to combat with his large arsenal. In short, he was a lovable oaf of sorts, and could always be relied upon for support, whether it be emotional, close combat or long range combat.

Sru'sky, nicknamed the Warrior Princess, was perhaps the most kind and caring of the four, being constantly supportive of them all. More so than the others, she continually stressed that war was wrong, and that she fought to protect people and places she loved. Nevertheless, she was a true force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, who, like Trion, used a mix of close range and long range weapons to great effect. She was the shining beacon of the team, the kind-hearted individual that personified the ideal citizen.

Alex meanwhile followed a reputation different to theirs. He was nicknamed the Dark Hunter, as he had shown a determination to never let his prey escape him without him letting it. Is determination and courage set him apart from the four, but also showed a more mysterious side to him, as he often exercised emotional emptiness in combat. Also a man of few words, his skills as a pilot are what set him above the rest, accompanied by his almost unparalleled skill with double sword weapons of any kind. He was he most withdrawn of the group, but that seemed to only attract more attention to him, which sometimes got on his nerves, but not often.

Due to the reputation of the four, they had attracted a large group of fans and admirers of all kinds. Unfortunately, whenever they had a leave from service, this sometimes proved troublesome.

If there was one thing that Alex hated about his celebrity status, it was the crazed fans he attracted. Most notably: fangirls, or in Quirinth and Sru'sky's cases, fanboys.

Normally, a human male Alex's age would have sacrificed a limb for such attention. The same couldn't be said for him though.

As he marched to the door of their shared apartment, in the capital city Ki'ristalis, in the Taos system, the government capital of the UIP, he was in a murderous mood.

The door to the apartment slid open, to reveal a pissed off human male:

"Have you seen the bullshit that appeared in the News today?"

Alex stroked into the apartment, shocking Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth from their activities. Trion had been busy working on a personally sized desk, tinkering with some circuitry in his built in assault rifle. Sru'sky had been busy looking up a number for takeout for dinner that night, and Quirinth had been channel surfing. Quirinth was the one to respond:

"Why, what did it say?"

All 3 looked at her, and Sru'sky asked: "Weren't you channel surfing just then? Wouldn't you have seen the news?" She shrugged, and replied: "Meh, I never pay attention to anything boring anyway."

Dismissing the lack of concern, Alex smacked a holopad onto the coffee table, revealing a set of rather bewildering articles, concerning all four of them on one level or another:

_**War heroes rumoured single.**_

_In a surprising development of information regarding the war hero Quirinth, the romantic lives of her and her living companions have been called into question._

_Last night, Quirinth was spotted leaving a singles bar in the Glorost district of Ki'ristalis. The bar's owners filed a form of non disclosure on the name of the bar, but Quirinth's presence there suggests that her romantic life is somewhat non-existent._

_According to leading social scientists and dating experts, this is most likely due to-_

"What the fuck! I went for a drink there, and they look at the name and assume I'm single!" Yelled Quirinth. Trion then chimed in: "But aren't you?"

She whirled around to him: "Yes, but now everyone, including every desperate or blow-headed man is going to come after me!"

Alex then interrupted: "Normally I'd say that you're screwed, but considering the next article, I'd have to eat my words."

They read on.

_**War hero shows dating trouble**_

_Two days ago, Alex was spotted at a café, where he was seen arguing with one of the waitresses there. Speculation is that this may be a secret relationship going sour, and-_

Alex then decided to stop reading there, not being able to bear it anymore:

"Oh shit, now I remember, it was that waitress that was acting very impolite to me in the cafe, I was telling her that she should treat customers with more decency. She was not my girlfriend!"

"That first article is only going to encourage people to ask us to be a partner en masse. Even worse now that the second article only seems to back it up." Added Trion, while looking out the window at the street 100 stories below.

"Now we can't go out in public without being swarmed by people wishing be our lovers." Said Sru'sky, as she shuddered at the mental picture.

What made things worse was when they had to go to a scheduled talk show interview that night, something which their apparent celebrity status had come with.

**Later that night**

As they got out of the air taxi, a large crowd had gathered by the entrance to the studio. Marching along a fenced off lane through the crowd, the four looked on the swarms of fans and news reporters with mixed emotions:

"Alex, any news on these rumours of breakup with your girlfriend?"

"I WANT YOUR BABIES ALEX!"

"Sru'sky, sign my chest please! C'mon, sign my chest!"

"Trion, show us your cannons!"

"Sru'sky, will you go out with me!"

"I'll be your boyfriend Quirinth!"

The last cry from the crowd caused Quirinth to whirl towards the source of it angrily, and it took Sru'sky and Alex to drag her towards the studio afterwards, ignoring the often personal questions and requests from the crowd.

Inside, it took roughly half an hour of preparation before the show could start. Apparently the four had been called onto the show due to popular demand. The show itself was an interview show with an A list celebrity host pair, two humans, one being Francis Gallander, a slightly overweight pale skinned man with balding ginger hair, a Canadian accent and famous journalist and spokesman in his time. The other was Helena Catherine, a famous actor and director in the film industry, sporting a thin frame [speculated to be assisted by a little bit of surgery], long black hair, dark skin and an African-American accent.

As the four stood behind a curtain waiting to be called out, they were chatting amongst themselves:

"-and for Eywa's's sake don't swear on the air, either of you two."

"What are you on about? When the last time I swore out loud for everyone to hear?"

"This morning when you burnt your hand on the cooker by accident, and that was 10 seconds after you recoiled."

"Oh shut Trion, I don't need your terabyte-per-second processor memory helping you make jibes at me now."

"Shh! Will you three just shut the fuck up."

"Oh, see, why don't you scold her, rather than me, I swear when necessary, if Quirinth got free reign she'd swear every sentence!"

"That's bullshit and you know it!"

"See, what did I tell you!"

"Shut up, they're starting."

The lights dimmed in the studio and then the spotlight turned to the set of sofas oon the stage. On one sofa sat Francis and Helena, and it was Helena who spoke first:

"Good evening and welcome to tonight's programme of Be our Guests! We have a wonderful set of celebrities coming onto the show today, and as usual a collection of film clips they have kindly donated to us to see as extracts from their lives."

Francis spoke:

"That's absolutely right Helena. And as usual we let you, the viewers pick who you wanted to appear on the show, and highest voted ones we could possibly get are here today, which luckily for all of you, is the one with the highest number of votes."

The studio crowd applauded and cheered, before calming down:

"Now of course, when I say celebrity I actually mean celebrities, as these guys and girls never seem to be apart. They're unique in what they do for a career compared to other guests we've had."

"Yes Francis, we've had politicians, actors, news spokespeople and even celebrity chefs. But today is the first time we have ever had decorated soldiers, fresh from combat all the way from the Ka'menth system. So please give a big round of applause for our four celebrity guests: Trion, Quirinth, Sru'sky and Alex!"

As the four stepped out onto the stage on cue, the audience exploded. Walking as calmly as he could, Alex realized he was out of his depth here, he was a soldier, not a public speaker. However, as he sat down on the sofa, he shook the hands of both Helena and Francis, managing to stop the sweat from coating his hands.

Trion watched the other three as they sat down, gauging their emotions. Alex was nervous, he never had been a good public speaker. Quirinth was using her usual swagger to suppress any nervousness, which was working mostly. Sru'sky seemed the most comfortable among them, taking it all in her stride, her smile one of calmness, not a fixed nervous one.

After the audience quietened down, Francis asked all of them: "So, our viewers asked you onto the show because of your immense status you've attained in just two and a half years. I don't know what to say, except how did you do it? I mean most soldiers go rather unnoticed, at least until they're injured or die." As he finished that sentence, he turned to the audience: "I just want everyone to know that's my opinion, I'm not offending, its just what I've seen and heard, and it's a sad truth, again no offence."

Quirinth responded: "None taken, I notice that myself."

Helena then spoke: "Alright then, I guess we should start with individual questions first, then group ones, is that OK?" The four nodded or shrugged their shoulders in agreement. Helena then turned to Quirinth: "Alright, let's start with you, Quirinth. You're often called the Savage huntress, what's you're opinion of that nickname?"

Quirinth gave a small laugh, and said happily: "I actually like it, it sounds cool, it matches my personality too, cause I see myself as a sharp tongued tomboy, plus it also scares my opponents and makes it easier for me."

The audience laughed at her statement, applauded her confidence.

Next, Francis looked up to Trion: "Now as I've heard it you're called the Silver Guardian, got any problems with that name?" Trion shook his head and said: "none whatsoever, it suits me well, I'm protective of those I care for and the innocent." Francis smiled and then asked: "But what of these stories of you being the lovable oaf of the group?"

Trion hesitated briefly, before saying: "I'm not the sharpest mech in the world no doubt, I can memorize any knowledge sure, but my creativity is somewhat limited compared to others. So I say that name suits me well. Ask any of my old school teachers, I was n the bottom half of the class."

Alex then snapped up to him: "Hang on, hang on! You were near top of every class in the two years academy training we did, and now you're saying you were one of the worst in your old class?" Trion explained: "Yes, but when I was created, my body randomly selects what functions to place emphasis upon. In my case, it was strength, not creativity."

Helena then stepped in: "Okay, lets not argue here please, lets move onto the next question." Francis then turned to Sru'sky: "So you're known as the Warrior Princess? How's that working out for you?" Sru'sky smiled and said: "Like the other two I find no annoyance with my nickname, I'm sure my parents would enjoy it."

Helena then spoke: "That's another question, you and Alex are the most unknown within this group, care to explain your background a bit?"

"My pleasure, I was born in the Omaticaya clan on Pandora, I grew up with Alex and my family inside hometree for nearly 16 years of my life. I often trained to hunt and liked to play basketball with my other friends in the tribe."

"Oh, so you were a sportsperson in your childhood then? I guess that would help with what career you do and all. But another question, you said you grew up with Alex, what did you mean by that, was he a friend you had in a nearby colony?"

"No, he lived in the tribe with me his whole life, he's my adopted brother."

A stunned gasp echoed through the crowd, and all the two could say was: "Wow." Next, Francis decided to question Alex now: "Alex, your nickname is the dark hunter, you like it?" He remained silent for a moment, before muttering: "If they give me a name which intimidates the enemies I fight, and makes my job easier, I welcome it."

Helena then asked: "Now according to Sru'sky you were raised as her adopted brother in the tribe, care to expand upon that?"

"I'm not sure I want to fully explain, it's a long and hard story for me to tell."

"Just take your time if you need to."

Alex sat there for about 10 seconds, contemplating whether he should say anything. If he did, he'd be exposing the truth about himself. If he didn't, the media would make up stuff about him, and the questions would never stop. He chose to answer:

"I was actually born on Earth, to two regular human parents. I don't know their names, but I don know I also had a fourteen year old sister when I was born. When I was four months old, we were on a freighter bound for Keletari, just neighbouring Pandora. So pirates decided to raid us, ones known to kill all aboard the vessels they raid. I was put into the ship's only escape pod, but an electronic attack launched the pod while I was inside. It guided itself to the nearest habitable world, Pandora. My parents and sister were killed aboard the ship, either by the pirates, or by the reactor exploding once they had left.

I landed in the jungle, where Sru'sky's mother found me in the pod. She took me in, to raise me as a brother to the Sru'sky, who was still in the womb at the time. But because I was human, they thought the world outside hometree was too dangerous for me. So for 10 years I never left hometree, I wanted to prove I was not weak, so I exercised as much as I could to strengthen myself, and had I been a Na'vi, I probably would have outmatched all of my age in endurance, speed and strength.

Thankfully, my parents realized they I was unhappy, and fully capable of taking care of myself, so for the next 5 years, I lived among the tribe normally. I won't lie, it was hard work, but I wouldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't done it."

Francis looked at Alex in amazement, and then asked: "So you've led a very interesting life, what highlight of life among the tribe do you remember most?"

Alex looked at Sru'sky, and then turned back, saying: "I was 15 at the time, I was on a hunt with Sru'sky, we had been tracking a Yerik for about 3 miles. We were at the top of a hill, overlooking a valley. I saw a herd of Sturmbeast below begin to panic, and stampede towards us, because a Thanator was chasing them. What eventually happened was we were running to keep ahead of the stampede through a small canyon, and we eventually rounded a corner just as the Thanator saw us. I guess it decided we were an easier meal, so it came after us. We climbed up a tall tree to escape, which worked well, although it wasn't fun being stuck up there for, um, how long would you say it was Sru'sky?"

"About 2-3 hours."

"Yeah that sounds about right."

The audience laughed at their heartiness at a life threatening situation they had been in, and the interview continued.

For another half hour, the four explained their exploits, from the gladiator ring where they met, to their two years at the academy, which Alex had a great time retelling how he and Lanver consistently made life hell for Captain Gra'til. Also, their exploits onwards from the battle of Rothrian, including bodyguard duty, escort, defence, attack and scout roles. Numerous of these stories were complete with photos or recordings of those moments, including photos from the graduation party of the academy, on duty recordings and photos of moments from their 2.5 year career. All in all, the audience and viewers loved them.

**1 week later**

Alex stood at the window of the apartment, gazing out across the vast cityscape and streets over a hundred floors down. It was now the start of a new tour of duty, and a new kind of assignment had arrived for Alex.

A solo assignment.

This morning, the four had received a message briefing them on their new postings for this tour of duty. Trion, Quirinth and Sru'sky had been assigned to the Sirius system, the Grey home system. Meanwhile, different orders had reached Alex.

A need for information had arisen, and an espionage mission had been drawn up for a suitable candidate. He person would have to don a disguise as a Leg'hrul, via holographic display, to infiltrate the military communications network on Felren, a large Leg'hrul colony about 200 light years from UIP terriroty. That person would need to be one whom could either stay hidden, or be important enough for the Leg'hrul to be tricked into negotiating a prisoner exchange if caught.

Initially, Alex had being unsure about going it alone, and considering the type of mission and where he was going, he almost turned it down. But, he had a duty to do, and whatever the risks he would willingly do it if it meant getting an advantage towards ending this war.

Within days, he was dropped off on a disguised shuttle, made to look like a standard Leg'hrul supply ship, and was now deep within enemy territory.

**4 days later**

The communications facility was not an easy place to sneak into.

After scanning and scouting around the site for days, Alex was ready to infiltrate the facility. He had made it past three sets of guards without a hitch. His holographic Leg'hrul disguise was now that of a high security clearance guard. He had found him last night in a local bar, and had gotten him drunk enough to pass out. After taking him back to his apartment, Alex had given the guard an extra dose of knockout serum, to keep him asleep all day. Then, scanning his body and uniform, Alex was ready to assume the Leg'hrul's identity.

Within half an hour, Alex had gone into the computer mainframe vault, officially on patrol duty. After looking around, he found the control terminal, and set to work.

_What genius to take something from right under their noses. _Thought Alex as he hooked up the data stick into the port.

After 5 minutes, the download was complete, and now came the hard part. He had managed to download the data on the fleet placements without tripping any alarms, but now he had to transmit the data. Unfortunately, the Leg'hrul closely monitored their communications networks very thoroughly, and any outgoing data storage devices from this facility had to be checked. There was no way he was getting out with this thing. He had no choice but to transmit it.

Stepping out onto the roof to get the best signal strength, Alex prepared to send the data. He had been led into a trap, as when he sent the data, it would be detected and attempted to be jammed normally. Thankfully, Alex had temporarily disabled the jamming stations while inside the control room. Now he could send the data.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed send.

As the data was almost instantaneously sent to Taos via quantum tunnelling at a nearby signal booster, alarms blared in the security stations inside the facility, alerting the guards and sentry droids to an illegal transmission on the roof. Immediately, the guards and droids were on their way to the roof.

Meanwhile, Alex prepped the parachute on his back, ready to jump the 140 stories into the streets below, hopefully to disappear into the crowds. He was wearing a face mask to hide his face from security cameras.

Behind him, the door of the service stairs banged open, and before the guards could yell for him to stop, Alex, still in his disguise, jumped.

For a few seconds Alex enjoyed the freefall, knowing that he had to open his chute as late as possible. As the ground rushed up to meet him, Alex yanked on the cord, and the parachute quickly deployed, just in time too.

Alex landed on top of a truck, which had been carrying a load of sand for a nearby landscaping project. Quickly detaching his parachute, he jumped from the truck, landing effortlessly on the tarmac below him, startling the crowds around on the pavement. Behind him, he could hear the sirens of security coming near, and quickly ducked into a nearby alley.

Unfortunately, one of the people in the crowds had pointed out where Alex had gone.

Hiding in the abandoned flat, Alex quietly made his way through to the other side of the building, looking for a place to hide until the security left. Suddenly, Alex heard the door being knocked blasted out of the way, and a thundering of footsteps followed.

Silently, Alex knew he was caught, even before he heard the drone switch the safety of the plasma rifle off.

Within seconds, Alex had been knocked onto the floor painfully, and had a bag thrown over his head. While still inside, the guards began to talk about something, before a sharp impact on the side of his head made Alex's world turn black.

Okay anyone who read this. Please give me some feedback, any at all, as long as it isn't purely insulting. And if possible, recommend this story to other fanfic readers.


	15. Chapter 14

**Into the Darkness chapter 14,**

**A new path**

**15****th**** March, 2898**

Alex woke up to the smell of swear and dust. Pulling himself off the floor, he saw he was in a 2 by 4 metre room, with a single door and a small window. Looking out, he saw he was in a facility, surrounded by barbed wire.

_So much for not being caught_: Thought Alex dejectedly.

For the next few hours, Alex sat in silence, having quickly realized there was no way of escape. He had apparently been unconscious for 2 days. His solace was only broken when a tray of food was slid through a tiny slot in the door. He dove on the tray lie a wild animal, ignoring the foul taste of the food as he devoured it.

It was not until what he thought was the evening when the door was opened. A burly female Leg'hrul guard simply spoke in English:

"You've got a visitor."

A middle aged, battle-hardened Leg'hrul, with unusual red blue and grey feathers, instead of blue and red feathers, towered over Alex as he stepped into the prison cell.

Behind him, he shut the door slowly. The doors were soundproof, which did not matter, as any plotting of escape was useless for any prisoner. The strange Leg'hrul

stood by the door, and spoke in English:

"Are you so desperate to fight for those you see as innocent that you allow yourself to be caught by simple security forces? Surely one who can take out hundreds of enemies and destroy war vessels wouldn't make such a mistake to be taken away by a handful of guards?"

"Actually, there were 12 guards."

"I counted 8, Alex."

Alex stared hard at the Leg'hrul before him, and asked: "How did you know that?"

"A person such as yourself cannot go anywhere without leaving a trail to follow. I've been studying your exploits throughout the war, and if I may say so, you show incredible potential, but it is wasted on the reasons why you fight."

"What do you mean wasted?"

"What supposedly caring government would send one of their best men on what can only be a suicide mission, only caring for the information you sent?"

"What do you want?"

The Leg'hrul smiled at the last comment, impressed by Alex's willingness to listen.

"I wish to offer you a new path. One who's purpose matches the ideals and goals that you yourself and every soldier fights for. Justice and peace. I offer you a path which will draw you closer to fulfilling those goals more than your current path could eve hope to."

"Hmph, and what makes you think that I'll go along with it?"

"Out there in the offices, the prison warden has a warrant for your execution waiting. I offer you an exchange. Take up my opportunity for a new path, and I shall 'persuade' the warden to let you go."

"'Persuade', you mean bribe."

"That is a feature of the path you are being offered, one where less desirable acts pave the way for a greater good. It is your choice, needlessly die for a cause you yourself are beginning to doubt, or join me on a different path for the same destination."

Alex thought to himself. The truth was that he was losing faith in the UIP, particularly since their tactics only seemed to escalate the war. Combined with this mission as well:

"When do we start?"

The two soon departed the prison, after which Alex learned the name of this enigmatic Leg'hrul. He went by the name Norstith, and was a highly respected early retired general in his native empire's armies.

Now however, he worked for a more covert operations unit, one which had no nationality-based agendas or affiliations.

An organization of mercenaries, named the Knight Initiative.

Apparently, they had been set up to remove corruption and install justice within governments at first, but also extended their work to act as peacekeepers, or enforcers, all for the right price.

Norstith explained that he had been looking for new recruits, and that he had been monitoring Alex in view that he showed great potential. As they arrived in a local spaceport, they boarded a rented shuttle, shipping them to Ri'hilis, a system near the UIP space border, and a small, seemingly insignificant mining colony of the Leg'hrul empire.

Upon arrival, Norstith told Alex to use his Leg'hrul hologram to disguise himself again:

"People will panic if they see a human, so you keep that on until we're safe from view. We don't want a public scare to attract attention to ourselves."

Alex and Norstith arrived at a Knight Initiative, or KI, outpost. Here, Norstith led Alex into a small meeting room, to talk in private.

Sitting down, Alex turned off his disguise, his scarred Human form taking shape again. Norstith sat down opposite him, pulling out a file as he sat down. As Norstith read out each item on the list, Alex found himself reminiscing about each event, and what he thought of them now:

"-helped destroy multiple supply shipments to Y'grallin, killed 53 soldiers in ground combat following planetside, with 2 civilians accidentally killed too. Kidnapped a Kroni'gri scientist from Bal'manth. Destroyed a power plant in Kevenros city, of Garos system, causing mass blackout. Assassinated Leg'hrul fleet commander during 3rd battle of Rothrian. Destroyed 2 cruisers and 3 corvettes at battle of Gliese 581, and lastly, destroyed Kro'nogri base on Sili'his by overloading and detonating main reactor."

Looking at Alex, he said: "And yet, for what reason do you do these things? If you commit such acts of evil and destruction, surely they must be for a good purpose? Apparently not. I will be blunt when I say this, I saved your life when I rescued from the prison, during the two days you were there, the UIP knew you were captured, and yet they did not do anything to help you escape. What does that say about their morals? Kind, devoted and caring, respectful of everyone? Then why did they abandon you?"

Alex found himself unable to answer, and had been quite frankly thinking the same thing:

"They were using you the whole time. They saw you as an effective tool, a way to achieve their goals and nothing more. If the information you transmitted to them was as important as they said, that would explain why they were so willing to risk you being captured or executed, so long as you got them the intel first. If this has happened, you have lost favour in their eyes. For years now the UIP employed you and your friends to fight for them, to preserve their government against another which has seen the faults in the UIP political system!"

"What do you mean, it's a democracy. They represent the people."

"They are supposed to represent the people! But the government has been diverting more money towards the war effort by sacrificing public services, seizing more and more control of resources and transport routes, stripping their people of heir rights and freedom! The democracy no longer functions, and the leaders such as corrupt arms dealers and defence ministers and the President himself have taken full control by deceiving the public of information behind the war. Now what kind person would be foolish enough to serve in a lifelong devotion to protecting such a government?"

Alex sat stunned, and his shock was only enhanced when Norstith presented files on the more sinister dealing made by the UIP, even before the war. Now, any doubts about what side he was on dominated his thoughts, as he found himself at a crossroads.

He no longer trusted the UIP, and he was still distrustful of the Leg'hrul and Kro'noghri empires, although only against the government, not the people. And Norstith was proposing to work against and for both sides simultaneously, weakening both to the point where the war would eventually become pointless. Even better no one would know that he was working against both sides, and he could still live in the UIP and work for KI, by one of their newer outposts inside.

"I'm in."

"Good, so I can contact you when a mission needs you to complete it?"

"Yes, and also, do I need any training before any missions"

"Not really, you already posses the skills necessary, but we will provide you with better equipment to do the job more effectively. However, if you wish for more training, I can start you now, and I can 'tinker' with Leg'hrul prison records to say you were in prison the whole time."

Thinking, Alex knew that if he was to work for KI, it may be more suitable to fake a more extended stay in prison, to give his family, friends and peers a more convincing excuse for him leaving the UIP armed forces.

"How long training"

"About 2 months, but you can leave early if you wish."

"No thanks, two full months please, I want to become as good as I can become at what I signed up for."

"Now that kind of determination is exactly what will help you in this new line of work."

Norstith stood up and shook Alex's hand, saying: "Welcome to the Knight Initiative, Alex."

**13****th**** May, 2898**

It had been two months since Alex had gone missing on his solo mission, and to put it lightly the people in the UIP had been shocked at a great hero's disappearance. The story was all over the news for 2 weeks, about Alex going missing on a top secret mission, which was reported successful in itself, aside from Alex being captured.

The media bugged Sru'sky, Trion and Quirinth when they somehow found their way to contact them, and even the UIP was questioning them somewhat, asking if Alex had told them anything of deserting or defecting.

Now, having come back from a rather short tour of duty in Sector 8 of UIP space, the three sat in their apartment, thinking to themselves about the date today. Trion spoke up: "It has been exactly 58 days since he went missing now."

Quirinth spoke next: "I know, the news said in their report that nearly two months passed since then. I overheard some people in a restaurant talking that he may be dead."

Sru'sky stood up, shocked that Quirinth seemed to believe such information: "He can't be dead, we would know wouldn't we. The alliance would have broadcasted his death as much as possible, but even they don't know about his whereabouts! I had a message passed on from home, my parents are fretting over where he is almost every hour!"

Srus'ky then collapsed on the couch, and spoke through the tears gathering in her eyes: "I just want my brother back."

Trion was saddened by Sru'sky beginning to weep, and he came over and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. The mech's warm touch was comforting to the Na'vi woman, regardless of its metallic feel. Quirinth placed a comforting hand on Sru'sky's hand, and both her and Trion were now physically reminding Sru'sky that they were still here.

Hundreds of light years away, Alex finished his practice duel against Norstith.

Durinh the two months, Norstith had taken Alex under his wing as his apprentice, teaching him everything he knew about combat, particularly ion close range combat, where he taught Alex to wield his double swords to the point where he was virtually unmatched in a duel, and lethal at close range.

He also taught Alex the crucial ability to be as stealthy as possible, by making himself as quiet as possible in whatever he was doing. Such skills were necessary for many types of missions.

A new type of training was the introduction of advanced technology. Norstith had given Alex a thin biomechanical exoskeleton. The suit could be divided into segments for the arms, legs, torso and feet. Giving the wearer enhanced strength, sped and endurance where worn on the body, it could turn a mediocre warrior into an elite combatant. In the case of Alex:

He felt unstoppable when wearing it.

In addition, the suit held hardpoints on the wrists, upper arms and shoulders for equipping a range of weapons. Wrist rifles, heavy guns, grenade or mini missile launchers, flamethrower or mini dart launchers on the shoulders, the list went on.

With his duel finished, resulting in yet another loss against Norstith, Alex knelt before him, and listened as he spoke:

"In two months you have made phenomenal progress, and the reason you could not beat me is because you taught me things also. While you grew stronger, so did I. But do not be ashamed, I am proud to call you my apprentice, and now that your training is complete, you are free to leave for wherever you wish. Just remember, I will contact you if a mission needs you. To help you get anywhere, I have prepared a specialized heavy fighter to act as your personal starship. It is a design made entirely by KI, so you won't be mistaken as UIP or Alliance. Your successes will give you payment depending on how well you accomplish the mission."

"But now, it is time we part ways. Until I call you, you are free to do what you wish. Just never reveal our existence to anyone you know."

Alex nodded, and stood up to pack to leave. Norstith asked Alex to ait just a little longer, before finishing: "During the two months, you reminded me of my nephew. My Sister was involved in an war between the Kro'nogri about 5 years ago, and she was the only family I had left. They were in a market when the Kro'nogri called in a surprise air strike on the city. They were aiming for a disguised jamming station, which was hit. But the debris from the blasts caused many deaths below. She and her nephew were among them. I found her dead, half buried, but my nephew was badly wounded, and bleeding fast. I ran to help him, but it was too late. He was bleeding too badly, and he died in my arms. He was only 11."

"But you, when you came, I felt the same spark as I felt before. The boy's father died in an accident when he was 2, and so I acted as his father figure until he died. When I was teaching you, the same connection I felt to my nephew came back, and for that I see you as a sort of son now. I realize that you already have a father, but realize that I care about you, more than I have about anyone since the boy died."

Alex didn't know how to respond, and so said: "I'm honoured that you think that way master. To be truthful I always saw that my father favoured my sister, since she was his flesh and blood, and of the same race. I know he may love me, but our bond is not as strong as other father-son relationships. Most people go knowing only one father figure in their lives. I'm lucky enough to have had two, and with you, I may be getting a third. But for now, I'll see you when you need me."

The two shook hands in a sign of trust, and Alex turned to leave.

**4 days later**

Alex relaxed as his fighter flew over the city of Ki'ristalis. He had been give clearance to land at a spaceport near the residential area where Alex had lived in the shared apartment. Seeing an available landing pad, Alex landed his craft neatly on the landing wheels.

As he got out, he grabbed his bag from the cargo compartment. As he walked off the platform, it began to descend into a lower level hanger for longer term storage. By the time Alex had gotten his papers signed at the automated check-in booth [yes his papers still worked to his surprise], the fighter was now within the underground hanger, the landing platform now holding no traces of his fighter being there.

Alex walked with a cloak covering his clothing and face, not wishing to be recognized. He made his way onto the overhead monorail, taking the route to the station nearest the apartment. In fact, it was only 50 metres from it.

Within 20 minutes, Alex was out walking into the lobby at the base of the apartment block, and decided to walk into the all too familiar cantina, put there to provide income from residents or just visitors.

As he lined up at a food vendor, he saw a very familiar trio sitting by the window at a usual spot, on a corner table, looking out onto the street just a floor below. Grabbing and paying for his food, Alex walked over to them, remaining as inconspicuous as possible.

Sru'sky looked out the window at the concrete and steel street below. As she looked at a mother and her child crossing the street, she barely heard a person sit down on the table just opposite theirs. She looked over and saw a human man, cloaked in an intimidating black cloak that hid his face and body from view. Trion and Quirinth were looking suspiciously at the man also, wondering what he had to hide.

The man tilted his head slightly towards them, saying in a slightly gravely, yet familiar voice: "Didn't your parents ever say it was rude to stare?"

Sru'sky was taken aback by the man's rudeness, and retorted: "Didn't your poarents tell you that it was impolite to hide one's face for no reason?"

The man chuckled, and said: "That they did, of course you were there when they told both of us that exact saying when you were 11."

Trion optics widened in realization, but was unable to speak in astonishment. Quirinth had begun thinking about what the man just said, while Sru'sky demanded the man: "How do you know about this?"

The man stood up to face them, only his moving mouth visible under the hood: "You would think that you would recognize the voice of me, even if I had been missing for two months."

With this, Alex slowly removed his hood, revealing the familiar face, the massive scar on the left face, and piercing red eyes that shone like a red dwarf star.

All three were speechless, and all Sru'sky could utter was: "A-Alex?"

The next ten seconds were silent, and Sru'sky got up slowly to touch Alex, to see if she was not dreaming. Slowly, she gently felt him with her fingertips, and with a cry of joy, she engulfed her brother in a tight hug, thanking Eywa that he had returned.

Realizing that Alex was back, Quirinth leapt up to tackle Alex in a hug also, laughing for joy as she did. Trion engulfed all of them in a massive, crushing hug.

As the people in the cantina turned to the source of noise, they saw 3 familiar renowned heroes hugging someone together, apparently celebrating. As the person pried himself free, they saw the person's face.

Alex, the fourth of the band of heroes, had returned.

The next two days were a flurry of media and questioning by the UIP. The news reporters tried to squeeze as many interviews as possible out of the brown haired hero. Alex shared his cover story, that he had been imprisoned for two months after being caught relaying information to UIP intelligence.

This was partially true, as the two months of training had at times felt like imprisonment a little. Only a little though.

What shocked people was Alex's change in attitude towards the UIP defence force. Within two days of returning, he had turned in his kit, proclaiming that he had lost faith in the UIP, and was quitting. The UIP officials claimed that the Leg'hrul were not talking of his imprisonment, which was reasonable to Alex as he had never been imprisoned long really.

However, he stumped the UIP officials when he demanded why a search party was not sent out. They confessed that they had searched for only two weeks, and had presumed him dead. This only solidified Alex's true reasons for leaving.

And so, the next day, Alex walked out of the UIP defence ministry of Ki'ristalis, officially no longer a member of the defence forces.

**3****rd**** April, 2898**

Half a month had passed since Alex's miraculous return, and by now the commotion behind it had quietened down. Among those who saw him as a war hero, there was a wave of shock when it was heard he had quit.

Since then, Alex had been doing odd jobs here and there to keep himself funded, until a new job [assignment] presented itself. As he returned from a local shop where he had been working in inventory, he found himself being questioned by his two friends and sister.

Sitting down in the apartment lounge, Trion asked the first question: "We need to talk to you about what you've been doing in the past 3 weeks. My question is, why did you quit the UIP force?"

Alex's look of confusion turned to a mild glare, as he told the mech: "They did little to help me, they assumed I was dead behind enemy lines. They probably only cared about the information I got them, which I have no idea about myself. I'm done with them, and while I was there, I also saw what the war is doing to the other side of the conflict."

Quirinth pressed on: "What do you mean?"

Alex looked at her and explained: "When I was in there, I met many Leg'hrul and Kro'nogri who had been imprisoned for stealing, for protesting against the war. Its similar to what's happening in the UIP, but worse. Here on Ki'ristalis itself, there are many protests against the war, and how it's bankrupting the economy. I don't want to be involved in a war which will only destroy both sides of it continues for too long."

Sru'sky spoke next: "But we fight hard to end the war more quickly, so that that does not happen."

Alex looked at her, mildly disgusted: "So you mean to say you only care about the UIP winning the war, even if the Leg'hrul and Kro'nogri alliance is annihilated? What happened to respecting all life, a belief that the UIP placed top priority upon! Has it been thrown into the fires of war, gotten rid of to help fuel the war! My decision is final, I am not going to become involved on any side again!"

Seeing the shock on all of their faces, Alex became more subdued, and finished: "I just needed to get that off my chest. I'm not saying I hate you for fighting in the war, but I've been to disheartened to continue fighting. It's not the soldiers who fight I hate, it's the reasons we fight. I respect your decisions to continue fighting for the UIP, but I just can't bear the guilt of killing for no reasonable purpose."

The rest of the conversation was quieter, even though they accepted that Alex was not angry at them.

**The next day**

Alex smashed his alarm button on his bedside desk, groaning as he got up. Luckily, it was the weekend, so he did not have to work.

As he got out of the shower, he dressed himself and prepared to check his message box on his desktop computer. He saw the usual bills, a few advertisements, and one unusual message.

This one asked for a password, and the insignia of KI was imprinted in small text at the top of the digital letter.

Before Alex had left, Norstith had given him a codename and a password. The codename and password were needed to access mission profiles sent to members of the KI.

Alex entered the codename: Dark Hunter, after his media nickname.

Alex then entered his password, 756890. His password needed changing every time after he used it, for secrecy.

He opened the digital profile. This mission was an assassination mission. The target was a UIP fleet commander, attacking the Yistri'l system with a large task force. He had been found to be breaking wartime laws in order to fulfil his task of ridding the system of Kro'nogri forces based there. His crimes included use of biological weapons, such as an artificial virus, and chemical weapons, such as defoliants. The former had meant the system had to be isolated from the rest of the Kro'nogri empire to prevent it from spreading, as it was specific only to the Kro'nogri. Even if it wasn't fatal, it caused the troops infected to become bedridden for months at a time.

The latter, chemical weapons, meant that the forests of the planet were being destroyed in order to locate the Kro'nogri troops, a severe breach of environmental laws in the UIP. Also, who knows what effects it would have on the troops hit by it.

All of these crimes, and yet the UIP covered it up, as they were desperate to gain a foothold on the system, to cut off an important Kro'nogri trade route which passed near the system.

Alex's objective, to kill the General, a male Human called Taranov Klyde, and all of his 4 commanders.

Alex left later that day, convincing the others that he had been dispatched on a delivery mission to Sirius, which he backed with altered shop records.

He would rendevous with a KI ship, bringing him the equipment he would need for the mission, just 5 light years from the Yistri'l system.

Then, he would set off in pursuit of his first victims of justice.

**3 days later**

A lone fighter descended into the atmosphere of Ki'ristalis, carrying aboard a successful assassin.

Aboard the fighter, as it bumped on its 1500mph, antigrav slowed descent, the Dark Hunter smirked beneath his flight mask, mentally reliving the mission he had just accomplished.

"_A shadowy figure landed almost silently behind Taranov. As the man turned to the source of the sound, he saw a vibrosword, coated in scarlet plasma, swinging towards his torso._

_As the blade sliced and incinerated his body, his body began to let out a scream. But as the blade severed his spinal chord, his scream was instantly silenced, making it sound like a mere squeak, before his body, severed at the abdomen, fell to the floor._

_The shadow then moved off, searching for his last of five victims._

_Searching for the commander, the shadow found him in a command pod, directing the battle from a holographic display surrounding him._

_The shadow suddenly became still, as the dart launcher on his shoulder prepared to fire. A single dart, fired at high velocity would suffice, and to be sure, it was loaded with an incredibly powerful neurotoxin._

_As the commander finished calling reinforcements in to assist a troubled brigade on the planet blow, he heard for the smallest instant the sound of something whistling through the air, before he knew no more._

_The man instantly died, the dart penetrating his skull and frontal lobe of his brain, the poison now finishing the job if needed. By the time the now dead commander slumped forwards, blood dribbling out of the dart's entry point on his forehead, the shadow had vanished._

_The Dark Hunter had claimed his first five victims._

As the fighter's autopilot landed the craft, Alex remembered how pleased Norstith had seemed when he had reported his success, and also sending the recording of his mission as standard KI mission requirements said.

Norstith praised him for a job well done, saying that their crimes cold now be stopped, and they would leave it to the UIP to find out about the atrocities they committed.

Committed, yes.

That was what Alex was now. Committed to his new cause. One that transcended national boundaries and went to do all that could be done to bring justice upon those who do wrong, regardless of their affiliation.

Now was the time when Alex had finally begun to live by his media nickname, the Dark Hunter.

But for now, he awaited his next target with earnest, subduing the darker side of his life until it needed to be called out again to administer justice on an otherwise corrupt pair of factions.

For now, the Dark Hunter rested, waiting for his new prey.


	16. Chapter 15

**Into the Darkness chapter 15,**

**Growing darkness and the decisive task**

**3****rd**** February, 2899**

Nearly 10 months had passed since Alex had completed his first KI mission, and he had enjoyed strings of successes. Only a select few in the KI surpassed him in successes, one of whom was his mentor, Norstith.

The now 20 and a half year old, scarred, brown haired male human had managed to maintain his reputation as a hero somewhat, by joining in various police and rescue service missions, earning him medals and status. This cover helped to gain him income to support himself.

Although his missions with the KI paid rather well, he needed these jobs with the services to gain a source of credible income amongst those watching him. So he hid most of his earnings from KI missions, only taking little bits to spoil himself a little after success, such as a night out in downtown.

The better part of working with the police and emergency departments on Ki'ristalis was that he was not involved in the war much, just in problems that always occur, even in peacetime, such as stopping robberies, rescuing people from fires, and other acts of so called 'non-war heroism'. The multiple brave acts Alex did in these forces maintained his reputation he had garnered from the war.

Within the past ten months though, Alex had committed acts considered monstrous, depraved, and sometimes merciless, all in the name of justice. He had kidnapped, tortured, murdered, sabotaged, stolen, wounded and even impersonated during ten months. As payment, Alex had taken a sizable income from each mission, most of it paid to a private account within the KI. However, he had also acquired new personal equipment as part of his payment.

His collection included weapons, equipment, vehicles and even robotic troops.

His personal favourite award was definitely the mechanical exoskeletal body armour, which could mount weapons, tools and other equipment on its multiple hardpoints to improve his effectiveness on missions. Some of his enhancements included a miniature railgun, which could fire small, 10mm explosive rounds at incredible velocity and range, adding to its deadliness. Another was the two shoulder dart launchers, which he had acquired as part of his needed tools for his first mission. They could fire stun darts, poison darts, general high speed darts or even tracking device darts, with up to 20 darts being able to be carried with both dart launchers.

However, his trademark weapons forever remained his double plasma swords. The extendable vibroblade weapons could cut through many materials with the plasma coating disabled. However, when the plasma field was on, it could cut through all but other plasma coated or shielded objects. The crimson blades often were the last thing Alex's targets saw when they were to be killed.

No matter what atrocities Alex committed though under the KI, he remained innocent in the eyes of his friends, family and the public. Even during the 10 months of his operations, when the murders, kidnappings or other tasks he did were reported, they still found no definite culprit, and only had suspects to go on.

And they never suspected him at all.

Alex had gone beyond the normal soldier's role in peacekeeping. He had begun to route out the causes of the war, and actually take them out, rather than simply hammer away at the front all the time. He had become a merciless machine of a secret war, he had become a kind of warrior that was frowned upon.

A mercenary.

And yet, despite the atrocities he had to commit, all the lives he destroyed, he knew that it would ultimately benefit thousands more each time he did it. And as such:

He had finally found his purpose.

**Shared apartment, Ki'ristalis**

Trion stood by the window of the lounge, his optics staring at the sunrise as it reflected in the tranparisteel and metallic cityscape.

Behind him, Sru'sky silently approached, not wishing to break his train of thought. As she stopped alongside him, she began to talk to him.

"Beautiful, isn't it? How such a thing not made by nature can harbour its own beauty."

Trion glanced over to her, and asked:

"I've been thinking about events these past few years, and I feel there is a series of events that are hidden from the UIP's knowledge, something that has been influencing the war this past year."

"Like what?"

"These assassinations, massacres, kidnappings and scenes of monstrous devastation and horror aren't the usual roles of the Alliance. They seem to be just as puzzled as we are about these events."

"Because they have been happening to both sides?"

"Indeed, I feel that there may be another player in this game, a third, secret faction with its own agenda. Yet, the only thing that connects the victims is that they committed acts in war that may be worthy of a prison sentence, or even execution."

"What you mean to say is that this group, if it exists, may be monstrously targeting those who commit monstrous acts first? But why would they do such a thing? It will only worsen the war!"

Trion turned to face her, staring down at her shocked face, and merely said: "That is the whole point of this puzzle, that acts can be considered to be different things when viewed from different perspectives."

Sru'sky looked at her feet, and said in a sad tone: "But what good is committing such horrible acts if it will only worsen the fighting?"

Trion considered: "Perhaps that is the whole point, Sru'sky. Think about it."

Sru'sky looked up in realization: "Maybe you are right. War does not end until one side gives in, or both. The ending of wars in the past due to the cost being too high was quite common. Maybe that is what this suspected new group seeks to do."

Trion silently walked over to the large couch, which just barely accommodated him, and sat down:

"That is exactly what happened to my race 600 years ago. We grew so tired of fighting on both sides, and we suffered so many losses, almost driving us to the brink of extinction. Had it not been for the reconstruction of the Allspark, and the cooperation between the Autobot and Decepticon leadership, we would have all perished."

Sru'sky then asked a question she had withheld for years:

"I never have fully understood your kind. I know that machines can think and understand emotions as organics do. While I was growing up, my clan thought of machines as mere tools and enhancers of a species's position in the universe, and that life itself was always in an organic form. And yet here is your race, apparently life within a machine body. I wish to ask, how is your race is able to exist?"

Trion looked at Sru'sky, and began to explain: "I mentioned the Allspark moments earlier. It is the key to our existence. We theorize that we were evolved from lifeforms that were silicon based, which gave way to our machine like appearance, as we were originally silicon processor based. As we developed sentience, we evolved naturally, upgrading into more advanced materials, and more complex forms. As it happened, a group of these proto-cybertronians banded together, forming a group known as the Prime leadership."

"Each Prime helped in developing a device to store all of our knowledge, and also be able to create new life. By downloading the minds of dead mechs and femmes, the allspark could either give them a new body to live in, by manifesting their spark within a presented machine, or it could mix together two or more sparks to create new ones. In a way, how the allspark can breathe new life into mechs and femmes is akin to how the super-organism on Pandora can transfer the minds of organics both between bodies, or between a body and itself."

Sru'sky dawned with realization: "To your race, the Allspark is the equivalent of your Eywa."

Trion nodded: "That is the best way I can describe it for you. The other way of reproduction in my race is more akin to normal reproduction in organics. A mech and femme can come together and merge their sparks. Then, the femme carries a new, merged spark, taking random genetic data from each parent as its own. Alongside the spark, a small body is gradually developed within the femme. Once developed, the spark is released, and then can be transferred into the small body. After thatm a new mech or femme has been created, and is able to be easily extracted."

Sru'sky then asked the most sensitive question: "How long can you love for?"

Trion sadly admitted: "Our race has the ability to live for up to 50,000 years, provided we replace parts and repair when needed. Our sparks can only carry the life force of us for that long. However, our birth rate is significantly lower than organic species. I myself am less than 25 years old. We reproduce during set periods of time, so I am part of a wave of newer mechs and femmes."

Sru'sky understood fully now what it was about Cybertronians that made them unique. They showed to the fullest extent that life was capable of manifesting itself in all sorts of forms, ugly, beautiful, or in Trion's case, at least to Sru'sky:

Handsome.

**Market avenue, Ki'ristalis**

During his many missions with the KI, Alex operated under the guise that he was on a delivery mission to another world. A carefully provided set of robotic dopplegangers aided him in that respect.

This time however, he had no KI mission, and was actually on a delivery mission. According to records, he had been on 16 delivery missions, all of which he had memorized the robots' memory banks carefully in case of questions. In truth, this was his 3rd delivery mission.

As he disembarked the ship, he found himself looking out over the dusty, red landscape of Mars. Turning to his Krilsask merchant boss, Re'heera, he saw the bipedal, red and yellow lizard shielding her eyes with her hand from the mild duststorm:

"So where do we need to take these hyperchips anyway?" Alex yelled over the wind, gesturing to the crates behind them.

"Nearby village needs them for its main communication and sensor network as they set up! Its about 2 miles down into the canyon below!" She said, pointing at the small prefabricated structure layout, in the centre of the canyon, alongside a small river.

"Why can't we just fly down there?"

Re'heera shook her head: "Winds are too strong, unless you want to end up as part of wreckage on the cliffs. We'll take the motorbike and tow the crates on hoversleds!"

Alex rolled his eyes, and looked down the river, thinking that after nearly 800 years of terraforming that it would be higher.

After establishing a sizable human population on Mars by the early 2100s, they had began a series of terraforming projects. First, factories had been set up to pump masses of 'super' greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. After 60 years, plants had been brought to Mars, and combined with artificial atmosphere scrubbers, began to alter Mar's atmosphere to mimic Earth's. It was only in the last 300 years that complex animal life and larger plants could survive on Mars.

It had been the first of dozens of terraforming projects across UIP space, which were all either successful or still underway.

Needless to say, the majority of the Red planet still resembled its old, dead self. The majority of life existed in either massive jungles, small oasis areas, or within the artificial hydroponic farms of the colonies.

An hour later, as they sped back up the canyon, Alex looked longingly up at the twilight sky, towards where earth would be. Despite being travelling the known galaxy for nearly 6 years, he had never once visited the world of his birth, the homeworld of his biological parents.

A familiar sense of loneliness began to crawl into his mind as he boarded the merchant ship, one which he had not felt since his childhood on Pandora. Quickly, Alex cleared his mind of the past, letting go of such petty misty-eyed memories and emotions, remembering that he had all he needed now, both in his official life, and his secret double life.

As he arrived back on Ki'ristalis though, it would become apparent that his next few missions would alter the significance of his secret life as a KI operative, thrusting it into the open for all to see and define him by.

**Entertainment district, Ki'ristalis**

As Quirinth sat down on the bench, she looked out at the happy people in the rooftop park complex.

Children played in the playgrounds, or stood with their parents at the railings, gazing don at the street levels below. She had found that sitting here in the park, watching innocents behave without concern, eased her mind of her stresses.

Here, she could see what life she could have had, had she not been thrust into the war with the gladiator match. She often came here to contemplate what would have become of her had she not been taken by the Kril'sask underworld for those games.

While doing this, she also contemplated what wouldn't have happened.

She would have never met Sru'sky, Trion and Alex.

Sru'sky, to Quirinth, had become the big sister she had never had. Being an only child, she had sometimes been jealous of her childhood companions having siblings to play with, to tease and to support them. Sru'sky was always willing to support Quirinth in whatever she did, and made a point of listening to Quirinth when she spoke about her feelings on the rare occasions she did. As a fellow female, Quirinth could talk about certain topics that she could not with Alex or Trion.

Trion, the sturdy guardian of the group. He too had shown support when Quirinth had needed it, and often was the dim-witted big brother she would have liked to have had. He was often the target of Quirinth jibes whenever she was bored, but he knew she never meant them, and remained as lovable as ever.

Alex was like a twin brother to her. They argued consistently, as siblings would, though never really in any serious way. Sometimes, they argued simply to pass the time. He mirrored Quirinth often, with a sarcastic approach to life, although he could adopt a deadly serious attitude when needed. He always spoke the truth, no matter how hurtful it was, and also supported Quirinth in his own harsher way. Their friendship could best be described as a friendly rivalry. They were at odds with each other, and yet they could not be who they were without the other.

Looking at a happy mother and daughter on a swingset, she realized that she may want to later settle down in the future. Find someone who cared about her, loved her, whom she loved in return. And also perhaps settle down and have a family with.

Unfortunately, the war did not allow that luxury, and Quirinth had not yet found someone that she would consider spending her life with just yet.

However, she did often have hopes for Sru'sky, as her fanbase was just as big as Quirinth's. However, it had become known to only Quirinth that Sru'sky had an attraction towards a certain silver mech, and that he may possibly show some signs of attraction to her himself.

As Quirinth rose to head home, she thought to herself: _I bet it'll take years for them to see that they like each other though._

**Shared Apartment, Ki'ristalis**

"_-and in a new development the BII [Bureau of Interstellar Intelligence] has gained new knowledge on the series of acts of terrorism against both the UIP forces and the Alliance forces in the past 10 months, linking them to a single person and a band of assisting members."_

As Alex passed by Quirinth and Sru'sky, who had been watching the news on the television, he immediately froze upon hearing the broadcast.

"_Security surveillance data and eyewitness accounts link a group of unidentified persons being present at each event of terrorism against both sides. These events included the __**massacre of Deimos VII**__ 12 days ago, the kidnapping, torture and public execution of __**Catholic Cardinal Mavagrina**__ on __**Keletari**__ a month ago, the destruction of the __**UIP Super Battleship Stellar Fist **__in orbit over __**Grisius**__ 4 months ago, and the __**slaughter of General Taranov**__ and 4 __**of his commanders**__ in the __**Yistri'l**__ system 10 months ago. The only data which points to any suspects is in the form of a single member present at each and every event. No records have been found, but he is now placed among the most wanted list of the UIP defence forces."_

Alex stood rigid, and he realized that the UIP, and also the Alliance, were on his trail. The chances of them discovering him were minimal though, as he had been careful to cover all of his skin to prevent DNA tracking. He had also used both a voice modulator in his helmet, and had never once spoken during any mission, to prevent voice recognition.

Still, it still made him worry.

On the couch, Quirinth smirked in satisfaction, and said triumphantly: "At least he'll be brought to justice, he'll probably be found out first. Boy I'd like to take a crack at him myself, just to teach him what happens when you mess with the UIP."

As she cracked her knuckles menacingly, her insectlike mouth parts shifting into what could be a smirk, Sru'sky rolled her eyes and laughed at her friend's eagerness. Truth be told, Sru'sky also wished to have a crack at him, despite her talk with Trion earlier today about this group. The fact that one person had been involved in every single mission set him apart from the rest of them.

Neither of the two noticed Alex until he bade them goodnight, slipping into his room and locking the door.

Alex went to check his messages, to see if Norstith had another assignment for him. Looking at his inbox, he saw that Norstith indeed had a message for him. When he opened it though, he found two attached documents. One was under the title of a mission briefing, whilst the other was unspecified.

Alex opened the other document first, and found that it opened up a live communications program. He saw an order in the first box, saying to enter his KI identity code in the first box. Alex did so, and it told him to wait for up to 5 minutes.

After just two minutes, another message appeared, which prompted Alex into an online live conversation with Norstith, under their codenames, with Alex being D. Hunt [Dark Hunter], and Norstith being D. Mast [Dark Master].

**D. Mast: before you read the mission briefing, I need to discuss your current 'reputation' and the circumstances it places you in.**

**D. Hunt: you mean the BII finding out about me being at every so-called 'terrorist event'?"**

**D. Mast: Precisely. The situation is attracting too much attention. They will eventually find out about your double life, it is only a matter of time.**

**D. Hunt: What do you propose I do? Stop working for the KI? I told you that I want to do all that is necessary to end this war, and I'm not going to step down just because I may get caught red handed using 'unorthodox' methods of peace-bringing.**

**D. Mast: In that case, you now have an ultimatum on your hands.**

Alex looked at the screen in confusion for a moment, not liking where this conversation was going.

**D. Hunt: What do you mean, an ultimatum?**

**D. Mast: You have two possible choices, the way I see it. You can either let them eventually catch you, even if you carry on or quit, which will mean life imprisonment in a high security facility, or even perhaps execution if they decide to.**

**D. Hunt: And the alternative?**

**D. Mast: I see you don't want to be locked up or killed. In that case, the only other option left is to join us fully. Become a fully integrated member of our cause. In that, you will have to leave behind everything and everyone you care about, but it will allow you to more easily fulfil your goals of justice and peace, as you will lose all attachments, responsibilities and burdens.**

Alex looked behind him, as if gazing at his friends, while he remembered all the times he shared with them, with his family, all their triumphs, all their good times, bad times and what they had hoped for. He then sought council from Norstith:

**D. Hunt: But my friends, my family. They will be heartbroken and perhaps enraged if the find out what I've done, because they will not be able to understand the reason I chose to do those things.**

**D. Mast: It is too late to change the past. What I can offer to you is some advice. What will be more heartbreaking, knowing you did these things and seeing you imprisoned or killed? Or, knowing you did these things, and explaining why and leaving them in peace, but still living yourself?**

**D. Hunt: You're right. If I'm free, and I explain, perhaps they will at least understand, even if they don't accept it. So long as we don't come into conflict.**

**D. Mast: Then you know what must be done. You must make a public statement, which your next mission will provide an opportunity for you to do so. The KI gave you it to test your loyalty to them, and it would be impossible for you to do without being exposed at least. Have a look at the file, and then report back to me your thoughts.**

Alex kept the chat window open, and then opened the other file on the message.

Looking at the target's name and profile, Alex felt his heart stop. This person had been responsible for issuing orders that went against numerous treaties, which including giving General Taranov the authority to use the Kro'nogri specific virus attacks on Yistri'l. He had also been issuing orders for forced possession of resources for use in the war effort, when in fact the army was well supplied as it was. He also had been in secret dealings with the criminal underworld to target politicians who spoke out against him.

What made Alex shudder was who it actually was.

Quickly, he messaged Norstith:

**D. Hunt: Are you kidding me? I can't take him out! Even though I disliked his policies, and also now that I hate him for what your report tells me, you think I can take out this guy and get away with it and carry on as normal!**

**D. Mast: That is precisely what I warned you about. This mission shall decide your fate. Now that you have embarked down this difficult path with the KI, you now face a crossroads. This mission, of successful, will result in either you becoming a permanent member of the KI to seek sanctuary, or being imprisoned and perhaps executed.**

**D. Hunt: But why me? I'm to appear in front of this man to accept an award for my brave acts both in the UIP forces and also in helping the Ki'ristalis security and rescue forces, right in view of the PUBLIC! I'll be a disgrace to the entire UIP!**

**D. Mast: But haven't you already lost faith in them?**

**D. Hunt: That is true, but the only opportunity I will ever get to do this mission will be during that presentation itself. I will be exposing myself in front of the entire planet, and the media will be broadcasting it across the known galaxy. I'll be at the top of every wanted list, they'll probably put bounties on my head too!**

**D. Mast: And those all of this prevent you from fulfilling your duty and aims to assert justice!**

**D. Hunt: No it those not. I will do the mission, and I WILL SUCEED. But I will not be made a prisoner, or be killed. The presentation is in 4 days time, but I will need you to send a squad to pick me up, so I can escape.**

**D. Mast: Very well, we will organize that later. Any other requests?**

**D. Hunt: No, but I will be leaving evidence of the transgressions of all those I have had as targets during my missions, to help explain myself. And I also expect that this ceremony shall be my most memorable achievement yet. I assure you, I will take every possible measure to ensure he dies by my hand before everyone, to reinforce the message.**

**D. Mast: Then I shall watch the ceremony with high expectations.**

**D. Hunt: I will not disappoint you, my master.**

Alex logged off the chatroom, and began to prepare to get a good night's sleep, the lighted night cityscape outside the window glittering in the darkness. As he turned off the computer, he glanced once more at the name he had been given as his target, knowing he was going to make history as being the first one to kill a person with that political title.

_**Subject for: Termination. Name: Pedosk Vinirils. Career: UIP President.**_

4 days would pass, when Alex would meticulously plan the coming strike with Norstith over online messages. The ceremony would take place here on Ki'ristalis, in front of the Senate Building.

4 days would pass, where Trion, Sru'sky and Quirinth would become aware that Alex was acting strange and subdued, and always appeared conflicted or in deep thought. When questioned, he would say that he was nervous about the ceremony, which was partly true, although this answer did not satisfy the three.

4 days would pass, by the end of which the most devastating blow imaginable would perhaps be dealt to the UIP, and all who inhabited it.

4 days would pass, and then Pedosk Vinirils would be a part of one of the greatest events in the entire UIP-Alliance war.

4 days, and the entire world Alex knew would change forever.


	17. Chapter 16

**Into the Darkness chapter 16,**

**Atrocity and heartbreaking betrayal**

**7****th**** February, 2899**

The day had come at last.

Today marked a special occasion, where the President invited distinguished men and women of all kinds to accept awards for outstanding accomplishments in any field, whether it be service, research, the arts or sports. Today, there were 12 people each accepting this highly prestigious award. All of the family and friends of the awarded individuals would be present, invited to the ceremony in the main city square on Ki'ristalis.

The twelve lucky people were varied in their roles. Two were professional sports players, who had both raised and donated millions of credits of their income to support those afflicted by the war. There were also 3 scientists, two Vulcans and one Human, the latter who had developed a new way technologically enhancing the abilities of the mind, furthering the research into psychokinetic abilities and also the ability to read and manipulate minds. There were was a Cybertronian musician, who had raised millions also for aiding those affected by the war, but had also been promoting peace across the UIP with non-violent protests.

One of the receiving members was a now retiring Vulcan politician, who had frequently exercised reforms to that the war would not carry on for much longer, garnering much attention. The remaining five were what were considered war heroes, or in one case, a former war hero.

Quirinth, Sru'sky, Trion and a Romulan admiral were alongside Alex in accepting this award. Little did they know what would occur.

The ceremony had begun, and the President gave a rousing speech on the sort of characteristics that defined a person who would receive this title. This drew great applause from the vast audience, nearly 200,000 people were present, including H'nuptec and Firi'sry, Sru'sky's parents and Alex's adoptive parents.

After the initial speech, President Pedosk Vinirils stepped aside and allowed each of the accepting individuals to come up onto the stage, to give a brief speech before accepting their award from the male Human politician. One of the Vulcan scientists was the first to step up, and as he did so, Firi'sry and H'nuptec began conversing in Na'vi:

"_To think this day came. I would have thought it a joke had someone told me our own children would be here today." _H'nuptec said gently to his mate, as she leaned against him, before she said:

"_I know, I'm so proud of them both. Sru'sky went beyond her expected life, and now she is one of the greatest warriors they have, and an inspiration for people to follow."_

"_That's our daughter alright, she's the greatest thing we have ever done."_

Firi'sry looked slightly confused, and turned to H'nuptec as the second Vulcan scientist stepped up to make his speech:

"_What about Alex? He has perhaps out done Sru'sky. He lost his family, and had to grow up on a world perilous to his kind. He has just as much reputation as Sru'sky, but he had to work harder to get it! I know he may not be your flesh and blood, but why do you treat him differently?"_

H'nuptec looked at her with an apologetic look, and explained: _"I never meant to give the impression that I favoured Sru'sky over him. When I said that Sru'sky was the greatest thing we ever did, it was that I didn't want to dishonour his deceased parents by fully claiming him as my own. I also knew that one day he would amount to great things, if Eywa sought to bring him to our home. And he has. I am just as proud of him as I am Sru'sky, because despite his differences to us, he strove to be a part of us regardless of he differences. My daughter is my joy, but my son is my pride."_

Firi'sry now understood why her mate seemed to treat Alex differently. He wished to allow Alex to develop on his own, to prove that he could make it in a more independent manner through life. He had not been alienating him, he had been encouraging that behaviour, to make Alex stronger in the end. And to great effect, it worked.

After a good half hour, Quirinth had accepted her award and had left the stage, and Trion was now departing with his own award. Sru'sky, dressed in a regal gown fit for even the finest occasion, stepped onto the stage to deliver her acceptance speech. Adjusting the microphone, she began:

"I do not know how to thank all of you, for letting me serve to protect your government. One that sees past the differences of race or creed, but can allow unity in all kinds of people, and promote prosperity, freedom, justice and peace. Even in these troubling times, it still stands firm. I gladly place myself in the line of danger to preserve this freedom, because I cannot stand when someone else's freedom's are infringed upon."

Her speech continued for another 5 minutes, a relatively short acceptance speech. All the while, Firi'sry and H'nuptec had been fixed on their daughter, immeasurably proud of how far she had come in just the 20 years since her birth. Meanwhile, as the last person to accept his award, Alex looked on at her, his mind in two different places. One was in a state of conflicting pride and slight mocking, whilst he also tactically planned his mission:

_Her beliefs are steadfast, I'll grant her that. But she does not see the full picture, of the rotting interior of this government, like many having been riddled with corruption. She will never forgive me for what I do, but maybe with this evidence I can at least make her understand._

He gripped the envelope tightly, while going over the plan of what occurs after the act is done.

_Disguised robotic troopers within the crowd, about 5 dozen. 2 advanced units disguised among the security guards. My weapons are concealed and ready. This should work._

As he saw Sru'sky step off the podium with her award, he took a deep breath, and began to walk onto the podium, in full view of hundreds of thousands of people. The titanic roar of the crowd as he appeared was equivalent to the ones when Quirinth, Trion and Sru'sky had appeared. However, he wished to make his real reason he came her apparent.

He stood on the podium, and began to talk:

"Good morning Ki'ristalis. I must thank you for this tremendous honour you have given to me." As he said this, he gestured to the President and the award trophy, the crowd completely unaware of the double meaning behind his words. He continued:

"I must explain why I chose to do the deeds I did to earn this award before I can possibly accept it. I stand to do what is right, even if it means going against my or others better judgement or morals. I set myself the personal goal t do the right thing when I joined the UIP defence force. It was then I began to realize that sometimes the right thing isn't always the easiest. I've witnessed horrors of war I would wish on no one else, and I fought to prevent such horror from unfolding again."

The crowd roared in approval, and Alex raised his hand for silence again, wishing to finish: "However, over time I began to become disheartened from the tasks I had to do as part of the UIP defence force. It was finally set in stone that I wanted a better path to promote justice, peace and righteousness, when I was sent on my last UIP mission, my first and only solo mission. There, I was sent to recover intel, and after I sent it back and was captured as a result, the UIP were quick to give up on the rescue effort, only two weeks. Meanwhile, I rotted in prison for two months, before I escaped in a mass breakout. When I returned, I was finished fighting in the war, and so I turned in my uniform."

Among the crowd, murmurs spread like fire, apparently they had been unaware completely of the reasons he quit. He decided to wrap up the speech: "However, as this award proves, I wasn't finished pursuing peace and righteousness, as I helped the police and rescue divisions in many disasters, saving lives for the betterment of life. I had found a purpose to protect people that did not involve needlessly taking the lives of others. However, my life had also been concerned with the cases of atrocities committed by the secret terrorist group these past 10 months."

The crowds really began to become riled up now, and Trion, Quirinth and Sru'sky eagerly listened form beyond the stage curtain:

"With help from unnamed sources, I gathered information on the group not by examining the terrorists, but by examining their victims." He held up the envelope for all to see.

"Here, this envelope contains evidence suggesting why the terrorist group targeted these individuals. Each and every victim had been found guilty of covered up crimes that would be considered war crimes, high treason or punishable by multiple life sentences. The group targeted them as their own way of administering justice where the UIP and the Alliance had failed! Being distracted by their petty war, both factions were unable, or unwilling, to see growing seeds of corruption and poverty emerging within their own territory. And so this group sought to administer justice in their own unique way, a way which involves the, permanent removal, of the individual responsible, and setting an example for others to not make the same mistakes."

He slowly set the envelope down on the podium, the crowd now having fallen almost silent:

"I leave this for the UIP to examine, to see the evidence I have brought to them. But I finish with this, I am unable to accept this award for myself."

A ripple of uncertainty went through all present. For Alex, it now was do or die time. He finished his speech as he turned to face President Pedosk Vinirilis: "Instead, I shall grant you all a departing gift to remember me by today."

He slowly approached the President, hand outstretched to accept the hand shake.

In the crowd, H'nuptec was suspicious of Alex's behaviour, and Firi'sry was too nervous about what might happen. Looking up at the screen above, a massive projected screen showed Alex shaking the hand of the President, and doing an unusual move, reaching his hand behind Viniril's back, and patting him in a friendly manner. Suddenly, the President's eyes snapped open, and he went rigid. As Alex quickly recoiled, the President of the UIP fell forwards, blood dripping from his mouth and the stab wound in his back.

Then the screaming and shooting started.

Alex quickly pulled away, savouring for the briefest moment the sight of the president's blood on his now extended blade. Looking at the backstage section, he decided to send a message to his two friends and step-sister.

As the laserfire erupted within the crowd, and the two robot infiltrators took out the other guards, he yelled over to them: "This was my choice! I have chosen where I stand, and I do not regret what I did to those people!"

He ripped off his suit, revealing his armoured suit, equipped with a weapon on each arm. As he fired into the crowd to disperse them, he heard the familiar whine of a fighter craft approaching. He activated his turbofan pack, the electrical motors whining as the turbofans propelled him skywards at great speed.

As he rose 300 feet above the stage, he switched off his motors, and went into freefall. He fell for about 30 feet, before his fighter swooped in, cockpit open, read to receive him. He landed in the diving spacecraft, and as he landed, the craft rapidly began to pull up, shutting the cockpit and engaging maximum thrust. Almost immediately, the nimble craft punched through the sound barrier, and with no time at all, activated the experimental cloaking device, shielding it from visual and scanner view.

Below, the robots had fulfilled their duty, and purposefully shut down, falling to the floor in crumpled heaps among the panicking citizens. On stage, the three companions stared at what had just transpired, becoming overrun with thoughts of betrayal, sadness, and in their darker recesses of the mind:

Hatred.

Firi;sry and H'nuptec met up with Sru'sky a mere 10 minutes after Alex had pulled off his terrible act. As she reached them, Sru'sky threw herself into their arms, weeping at what her brother, her dear brother, had just done in full view of everyone. Firi'sry and H'nuptc also began to weep, as they relived the horror in their memories.

Their son had openly admitted to having a direct part in those terrorist acts. The kidnappings, torturing, murders and even the massacres. To them, the real Alex would never have done such a thing, and that he must have changed.

Little did they realize that this change had manifested itself a year ago, when he had been abandoned by those who he had loyally served for two and a half years. Such betrayal would only have lead to betrayal in return on his behalf. However, Alex was fully aware of these choices he had made. He had made that clear to all present.

Trion and Quirinth walked over to the now heartbroken family. Quirinth nubly sat down on the ground, still trying to comprehend what had just happened, conflicted by her emotions. She felt a sense of unfathomable sadness, just what had happened to Alex to lead him to do such terrible things? In contrast to this, she wrestled with her desire for vengeance. He had betrayed their trust, all in order to follow his now twisted and monstrous beliefs and ideals.

"_I have chosen where I stand, and I don not regret what I did to those people!"_

Quirinth began to formulate her thoughts:

_He betrayed us. He chose his beliefs over us. He doesn't see us as friends now. He's become a monster. He must be stopped._

Firi'sry couldn't bear the sadness that overwhelmed her. She had just seen her son confess to murdering and torturing hundreds of people, and the expression he wore when he admitted it, and killed the President.

Her dear son, had taken pleasure and pride in committing vile acts.

She wondered if she had gone wrong somewhere, silently praying to Eywa as to why this was happening. As she wept, her daughter and mate matched her sadness. It was Sru'sky who spoke first, her words slightly muffled through her crying:

"But why? Why would he do such things? Where did my brother go!"

H'nuptec allowed Sru'sky to bury her head into his shoulder, and through his tears, he spoke:

"_He has changed. He said it himself. That was not who your brother, who my son really was. He has become twisted, and has become a true demon."_

Firi'sry let out a loud sob at this, briefly outraged that her mate thought this of his own son. But she realized he was partly right, her son had indeed changed, as if a different person had suddenly taken the reins of his life, a darker person.

**The next day**

An address was held the following morning. Alex was placed at the top of the UIP's most wanted list, and a 30 million credit bounty was placed on his head. In the Alliance, Alex was partly heralded for delivering such a blow to the UIP, but the fact that he committed terrible acts to them earned him a 10 million credit bounty from their side, and a placement at the top of their most wanted list also.

Overnight, Alex had become the most wanted man in the known galaxy. He had gone from one of the most heralded heroes in present history, to one of the greatest monsters of the decade. In one of the greatest changes of face in history, Alex had become one of the most hated and feared people in the galaxy.

And the thing about such reputations was, they would eventually cause the downfall of that person.

Indeed, Alex's friends were called up to help in the search, as they knew him best, or at least thought they had. The orders were plain and simple from both sides.

Alex was wanted, dead or alive.

**2 days later:**

**Iegris, Hesvrel system**

Alex's sleek fighter descended into the atmosphere, the secret coded transmission alerting the defence grid not to fire on him. As the city drew near, Alex remembered his previous act of killing the President. Remembering the satisfaction of plunging his sword into his back, Alex gained some pleasure from the mission. It helped to stamp out the feelings of sadness and regret he felt.

He had committed a monstrous act in front of his family and friends, and everyone who was watching at the site or via the news. Now he was being pursued as the most wanted person in both the UIP and the Alliance. However, Alex buried these weak, sentimental thoughts, as the landing platform drew near.

As the fighter automatically landed, he saw Norstith, flanked by four masked Vanguards, approaching the platform. Taking a note from his master's teachings, he decided to keep his guard up, in case of a betrayal. The canopy then opened, and Alex leapt out, the hidden mechanical exoskeleton easing the impact of the landing.

Walking up to Norstith, he stood before him as the elderly blue and grey avian stopped also. Norstith then gestured for him to follow inside, which Alex obliged to quickly.

As they entered the nearby armoured, they boarded a monorail to the city centre, and then ascended in two elevators, up to an observation platform at the top of the tallest tower in the cityscape. As soon as they entered the observation deck, Norstith gestured for the four vanguards to leave. With the vanguards now gone, it was just Alex and Norstith left alone in the rectangular observation deck.

Alex saw his master gesture to a nearby table and chairs, akin to a dining room table set up. Feeling slightly suspicious [was this a date?: he thought.], Alex sat down on the right, as Norstith sat down on the left. It was then that he broke the silence:

"I see your mission was successful."

"Correct, they never expected such a blow to their morale."

"Speaking in terms of morale, your actions have inadvertently dealt a much more severe morale blow than we had initially hoped to achieve."

"How so?"

"You, one of their greatest celebrities of the war, a hero of dozens of battles and local rescues, turned around and on your own abilities, killed their leader. That was the point of the mission, to help accelerate the ending of the war, by forcing one side to stop fighting, or both."

"Indeed, I must say that I think I failed in quelling their war-like natures though. Now all I've done is provided a temporary new target for them to hunt down."

"I assume you talk of the manhunt now going on for you?"

"Of course, it is only the biggest story in the galactic media these past few days. They want me dead or alive now. But as I said, I refuse to suffer under their hands for my beliefs, so I would rather die than rot in jail!"

As Alex got up, to walk over to the window to view the industrial cityscape below him, Norstith looked at him with a slight tinge of sympathy:

"Sometimes, death is not always the best way to conserve your belief system. If you wish to remind them, you must leave a lasting imprint on their minds. Also, you seem conflicted by your actions also."

Alex looked back at the Leg'hrul, finally letting the sadness take over him, and he slumped to the floor in a pathetic heap, before muttering:

"I can't face my friends anymore. They publically admitted they would help hunt me down. Even my family too, at least my sister. What about my adoptive parents. My father probably now has a perfect excuse to favour Sru'sky over me."

Norstith seemed intrigued by this, as he had only heard Alex briefly talk of personal issues with his adoptive Na'vi family: "What do you mean by him favouring your sister? Did he favour her before because she was a Na'vi? Because she was his flesh and blood?"

Alex nodded, a now old anger reawakening inside him: "Yes, my sister always outshone me. Despite my efforts, I was always singled out in the clan for my size and species. I knew my parents did love me, but only my mother showed equal love to me and Sru'sky. I also always had felt abandoned by my parents and birth sister. I sometimes thought that they had abandoned me here, and I sometimes wished, on particularly dark days, that I had died with them, just so I could be with them wherever they are."

"By that, do you believe in the afterlife?"

"I had my doubts about anything spiritual. I was put off the supernatural and deities by the prayer to Eywa, the Na'vi goddese and planetary super-organism. They said she treated only those born on her world as her children. I was born on Earth, but I was raised on Pandora. I don't know where I belong. The nearest place that provided a sense of fulfilment to me was working for the KI, and living wherever they needed me."

Norstith laid a comforting talon on his apprentice's shoulder, and said: "You musn't burden yourself with these things. You say you feel you truly belong when you worked with us? Well, stick with that, and you have found your purpose in life. And if anyone tries to take away what makes you happy in life, gives you meaning, what do you do?"

"Fight to preserve what I stand for, no matter what it is!"

Norstith nodded at this, but suddenly looked at a holographic message screen embedded within the table. It flashed a warning of some sort. Walking over quickly, Norstith punched in some coding into the computer, and a holographic projector appeared, showing a 3D image of the system. Alex walked over, and saw the map zoom in on a sector 40 million kilometres away from Iegris.

A projection of a collection of red shapes appeared. There were 4 shapes about 200 metres long, two 1000 metre long shapes, and one 1800 metre long shape. 4 corvettes, 2 light cruisers and a battleship. It was obvious what had happened, Alex had been followed.

In rage, he punched the transparisteel window, denting it ever so slightly. He had made a single big jump, and 3 microjumps before making another big jump to Hesvrel system. How could they have tracked him so quickly!

Norstith then spoke to him, saying a phrase that would define Alex later:

"Now is your chance to truly show them what happens when you try to bring down a person who is wiling to go to any length to do what he thinks is right! They have come to stop you, to kill you! Will you let that happen!"

Alex contemplated for a second, until the armour on his body began to fold outwards more, to cover his body more completely. His arms were now sealed in an armour immune to all but heavy infantry weapons at least, and his wrists now sported combat blade guards, to catch any blades aimed at him, which would now be intercepted and caught. An opaque, one way view helmet slid over his face, and in a darker, slightly electronic voice, he answered:

"Never."

Ten minutes later, Alex had returned to his fighter, to prepare to make a stand. But, having found no tracking equipment his own person, he sought the fighter's hull. And, as suspected, he found a tiny electronic tracker, about the size of a tennis ball, attached to his left wing.

In fury, he ripped the tiny device off his wing, threw it to the ground and shot it with three rounds from his built in plasma rifle.

_So Trion thought enough to track me as I flew away eh? Well, he can suffer when I next meet him._

**Iegris orbit, 4 hours later.**

Intelligence had confirmed that Alex was on Iegris. The tracking device's signal had been lost hours ago, but no craft had been seen leaving the planet.

Iegris had once been a mining colony, rich in industry and mineral wealth. However, the competitiveness of asteroid mining and asteroid based industry in neighbouring systems had forced many people to leave, to seek profit elsewhere. Now, only about 150,000 people lived on the only city, out of an original 5 million. It was clear that with a larger battleground and less civilians, any fighting was likely to have little civilian casualties. But their target was for once not a base, or an army group or a naval fleet. It was a single person.

As Trion, Quirinth and Sru'sky looked at the planet below, they realized that with the blockade they would install, no one would leave this planet until Alex was dead. And with their knowledge of him, they knew he would not go down without any other losses.

Less than an hour later, the cargo shuttles were on route down to the planet, bound for the city below. In them, they could carry a collective force of 2000 troop between 40 transports, along with 36 light vehicles, including 6 light tanks, 24 advanced mobility platform walkers, and 6 speeder bikes. Such a force was necessary, as Alex may be in league with many others, and their base may be heavily protected.

Alongside, 20 fighters provided escort, and 4 heavy bombers stood on standby with the battleship and cruisers to bomb the city from orbit or the air if need be. In an extra space fighter, a larger, more advanced design, Trion sat as a section of the craft, able to peel away and rejoin it during flight. Inside his chest sat Quirinth and Sru'sky, sitting in formed seats in covered in a transparisteel cockpit each.

As the convoy flew down into the planet's atmosphere, the citizens of the city took shelter in bunkers, or fled to the hills. However, now left in the city was one person, and a battalion of robotic soldiers, and an entire base's defence network at his command.

Issuing commands to each officer unit, Alex headed for his fighter, and quickly took off, engaging the cloaking device as he did so. In front of him, a squadron of 16 drone fighters flew at his command, their stealthy airframes virtually concealing them from scanners, meaning only direct fire weapons would work.

Engaging full throttle, the drone squadron and Alex rose un, unseen, to take the incoming convoy from below, like a Great White Shark and a Seal in the ocean. The drones each fired a missile, and within two seconds they impacted.

Out of the convoy, 11 transports were destroyed, while two more destroyed a fighter each. The last three went nowhere, spiralling out of control as they had lost the target. As the drones flew upwards through the convoy, one of the drones collided with another transport, ripping it apart.

_12 down, 28 to go._

Taking advantage of their panic, Alex let loose a burst of laser fire, dropping his cloaking field for 3 seconds as he did so. The lasers blew apart a thirteenth cargo shuttle, and sent a fourteenth spiralling towards the ground with a destroyed wing and engine.

Overhead, half of the drones had busied themselves with the fighters, managing to take out another 10 before they all were destroyed. This left 26 cargo craft and 4 fighters, and one trio of people whom he would save for last.

The Dark Hunter grinned, relishing the taste of battle once again.

_Now we see who's really the best._


	18. Chapter 17

**Into the Darkness chapter 17,**

**Merciless annihilation**

**10****th**** February, 2899**

**Iegris, Hesvrel system**

The cloaked fighter craft descended once more on the cargo craft, heading for a group of 3 that had split off. The UIP force sent to face him and his backup had been dispersed, and had split up to allow more chance of landing forces on the ground. As such, the Dark Hunter commanded his 3 of his five remaining drone fighters to help him pick off the cargo craft and 3 remaining fighters. The last two drone fighters would circle 60,000 feet above the ground, ready to pounce on any forces that made ground contact.

As another transport fell to the planet in a fireball, the Dark hunter got the message from one of his circling recon drones. The UIP had managed to land about 18 transports, and had destroyed the other three hunter drones, apparently due to a lone heavy fighter defending them. Beneath his visor, Alex snarled.

_They never seem to give up, do they?_

After destroying the other two transports mercilessly, without a care for the lives inside, Alex engaged full throttle, and headed for the enemy landing site. During the fight, he had only used one missile, having learnt to conserve them during his wartime career. Besides, he reserved the full destructive capability of his craft for use against the ground forces, who were usually well protected, or in three people's cases, top of his kill bill.

As he accelerated, the last two drone fighters joined him in an arrow formation. Within five minutes, they would be within missile range. Arming his fighter's multirole missiles, able to be used against air and ground targets, Alex selected three of them for use in the first strike. His fighter had 10 missiles, and 2 bombs. The drones had 4 missiles each, and one bomb each also. By the time they were finished, the ground force would be nothing but a burn on the ground.

500 miles away, the UIP finished unloading their forces in the undefended city square. From each cargo shuttle, 30 troops and two AMP suits were unloaded, totalling to 540 troops and 36 AMP suits. Joining them also were two of three of their commanders: Sru'sky and Quirinth, each kitted up in their armour and weapons.

Each regular trooper had a standard plasma rifle with auto or semi-auto fire, and with a small plasma pistol and 3 grenades also. Some of them carried grenade launchers or flamethrowers, the former of which could carry stun, poison gas, flammable gas or high explosive grenades.

The AMP suits were equipped with a arm mounted laser cannon, akin to those on a fighter. Along with this, the rifles were armed with supersized blades on the ends. To complete their arsenal, they also came equipped with heavy grenade launchers.

Quirinth and Sru'sky sported different armaments though. Sru'sky had applied her full body armour, with green and brown armour plating protecting her body in all exposed places, except on her head, where she wore a basic battle helmet. She carried with her two wrist blades, each about four feet long. Along with these, she also had a heavy plasma rifle, and a grenade launcher. Her armour also was equipped with so called 'gecko padding'. This allowed the soldiers to grip onto walls and ceiling like a gecko, even when fully laden with gear.

Quirinth had gone for equipment more traditional to her race. She sported full body armour and face mask and helmet, with a V shaped visor completing the standard predator armour. She carried a shoulder mounted plasma blaster, which delivered the same punch as a pistol. She also had two foot long wrist blades, and an electrostaff, which stunned enemies upon hitting them. As a final part of her ensemble, Quirinth carried a cloaking device.

Trion meanwhile would provide close air support, using the integratable heavy fighter he had brought with him. On the ground, he formed an open top landspeeder, equipped with a turret based laser cannon, and also a rocket launcher. In his bipedal mode, he carried his fusion cannon, a large vibro-Axe, a plasma gatling gun, and a flamethrower.

As the force disembarked, Trion called in a warning: "Girls, three fighters coming fast from the east, they be in their firing range in two minutes!"

Hearing this, Sru'sky called to the troopers and suit drivers: "Get under cover, fighters incoming, don't let their scanners see you!" The force members nodded, and they all scrambled to their hiding spaces, in alleys, inside buildings and even under piles of rubble. Quirinth hid in a nearby doorway, turning on her cloaking field. Sru'sky climbed to a one story rooftop, and hid inside the top of a ventilation duct.

As the fighters drew within range, the forces were all concealed from firing range. The scanners themselves would pick them up, but could not lock onto their signatures to target them. Indeed, Trion had flown up and turned off his engines, and was now gliding within a large cloud nearby, under his own cloaking field.

The fighter group flew overhead, none of the three firing any weapons at all. Onboard, Alex saw the scan readout from his escorts and his onboard computer:

"Scans positive for enemy presence. Scans negative for weapons targeting, unable to lock onto targets." Alex mentally cursed at him missing those cargo craft, realizing they were hiding under cover. However, he remembered a specific person who could not hide from scanners so easily.

"Scan for energon signatures nearby."

"Ground level shows no energon signals. Airbourne scans detect a weak source circling 1 mile directly above current position."

Straining his neck, Alex saw a large, thick cloud overhead. Apparently Trion was hiding in there somewhere. Knowing their motives, they would not fire unless fired on first. But below, they were hiding among the cityscape, untargetable by their weapons.

Suddenly, Alex thought of a way to take them out:

"Arm missiles and bombs. Head towards the life signatures."

As Sru'sky watched, she saw the three fighters suddenly change course towards them. At about 400mph, they closed the 2 mile gap quickly. As their engines began to sound, she saw a twin trails of smoke fire from each fighter. Missiles!

What confused her was that they could not be targeted by their weapons, so they would miss. However, as the missiles came in, they dove down and impacted the foundations of a series of crumbling skyscrapers, which were only just DIRECTLY overhead them.

She heard the troops screaming as the massive 400 metres structures began to fall, and debris rained down. Like a toppling mountain, the skyscrapers thundered as they covered the ground in rubble, and buried much of the forces also.

Relieved that she had been clear of the site of devastation, she called in to each leader, and checked the vital status of each soldier via orbital command:

"Command, did we lose anyone?"

"Losses are severe, out of 540 troops, 92 were killed in the collapse and a further 126 were injured. Also, 5 of 18 Amp suits are either destroyed or too damaged to carry on."

Sru'sky looked angrily at the retreating fighters, outraged that they would use such a morally outrageous way of taking out opposition. With the need of medics, their forces had been cut down by roughly 40 %. But also, each of those people had probably had a family and friends, and the careless way in which Alex treated their lives now disgusted Sru'sky.

Down below, in an untouched area of the city, Quirinth ordered a full asaault:

"No more screwing around! Trion, take them out! We'll find any other enemies down here!"

Overhead, Trion ignited his thrusters fully, sending him screaming towards the trio of fighters at an unbelievable speed. As soon as he was within range, Trion fired the fighter's four laser cannons, completely destroying one fighter. In response, the other drone fighter pulled a tight flip, impossible for an organic to bear without gravity compensators, and fired at Trion as it passed overhead, and dropped in directly 200 metres behind him. Up ahead, Alex pulled around to head towards the ground force again.

By the time Trion destroyed the drone fighter, Alex had let loose with his fighter's cannon's on the city street, where a small group of troopers and a AMP suit had been crossing to find better cover.

On the ground, Sru'sky and Quirinth watched in horror as the quad lasers of the fighter tore apart and killed 5 troopers and the AMP suit, leaving a heavily wounded 6th and two remaining soldiers to carry him off. As Alex began to fly off though, the remaining AMP suits and troopers began to fire on him, one of them landing a lucky hit in the starboard engine.

Now, the fighter soared off towards the east, smoke trailing from one of two engines. It appeared to slow, but then landed at a platform atop the tallest building.

_Now we know where he is. _As Sru'sky thought this, she heard Trion landing beside her, ready to load Quirinth and her onboard to pursue heir former friend and brother.

Alex staggered into the observation room, massaging the mild burns he had form that lucky shot. The shot had been from an AMP suit, as it was rather large, and the blowout of one engine had caused a small explosion within the cockpit, burning Alex and preventing him from flying the craft effectively.

Retracting the armour plating, he saw that it was in a decent shape, and he could still use his left arm, where the majority of the burns had been. He looked around the observation platform mournfully, remembering of how Norstith had just hours before reminded him of who he was, and what he had pledged himself to stand for. Remembering the declaration he made there, Alex took the elevator up to the top level, to wait for their arrival.

Trion landed on the landing platform, where Alex's damaged fighter rested. The UIP troops had amassed at the base of the tower, ready to storm it or blow it down in a safe direction if need be. As he opened his chest, Sru'sky and Quirinth leapt out, looks of feral rage on their face. Like him, they had been outraged at what Alex had just done minutes before.

As they stormed into the building, they checked level after level, until the last level was checked, an observation deck of sorts. Here, Sru'sky smelt the ait, and said: "He was here a few minutes ago."

Trion took the initiative and hacked the building's elevator controls, accessing the databank for the last command issued. The last place the elevator had stopped was the uppermost level, a second, rooftop landing platform. Making a quick lifeform scan, he detected a single human now there, simply waiting at the edge of the platform.

"He's on the upper landing platform, just waiting there."

Sru'sky looked worried at this: "He knows we're going to come after him, he wants us to. Maybe it's a trap, a place to ambush us."

Quirinth examined the situation: "Well, we can't bomb this place from orbit, it would kill us and the troops first. But if we all pull back, he will probably realize what's going on."

Trion thought: "Perhaps we should go up and confront him ourselves, perhaps we can make an agreement with him."

Quirinth looked at him as if he had just grown a tail: "You want to negotiate with him? Did you forget everything he did those past ten months? You can't negotiate with a ruthless, sadistic murderer like him!"

Sru'sky pressed the button, calling the elevator, while saying: "No we can't, but perhaps we can try an negotiate with a friend."

On the rooftop, Alex massaged his burnt shoulder and arm, looking down at the forces below him. They were holding back from the building, waiting for their three commanders to make their move. Suddenly, Alex heard the elevator doors open on the other side of the platform.

_Right on time._

He heard them approach, and then stop away from him, about halfway across the platform from him by the sound of it. A few seconds after they stopped, Alex turned to confront his former friends.

As her brother turned to face them, Sru'sky saw the familiar scar on his left cheek, and a new burn on his left shoulder and arm. He was an intimidating sight, armed to the teeth, with his twin plasma vibro-swords, a wrist-plasma rifle, a wrist mounted grenade launcher, and what looked to be shoulder mounted dart launchers. His clothing was black, with red trimmings here and there, and thick armour covered his body, although some damage was present where the burns had occurred. On his head, a retracted helmet and visor sat. And yet, underneath all of these tools of warfare, Alex still wore the miserable face of someone who didn't know his purpose.

It was she who spoke first, taking a tentative step towards Alex: "We are here for you brother, in more ways than one. We just want to know why? Why did you do this?"

Alex's face flashed in anger, and he venomously responded in a tone unlike any she had heard before: "Why would I not do this? I swore to myself to uphold that which is right, while I was serving a government in which many of its members sought to better themselves at the expense of the principles it supposedly stood for! I grew disgusted by the war, by their greed and indifference towards those who suffer in the world. That is why I decided to fix the problem, by removing it altogether."

Trion talked: "But you killed all of those people in cold blood. They had nothing to do with the war."

Alex pointed out; "They had everything to do with the war! This whole conflict has been one based on ideologies, about the superiority of certain ideals. And they did nothing to make peace, they exploited the suffering of the people in the war to further their own standing. You know what many of my kills were? Arms dealers, propaganda publishers, war-crime committing and treaty violating military personnel! Each person I disposed of had wronged many others in countless ways, by promoting tools of suffering and agreements to limit the destruction of war! They deserved what they got!"

Quirinth abused him for this: "Is that what you thought of the President? Of those people you murdered and massacred en masse in front of countless others!"

Alex roared at them: "THEY DESERVED WHAT I GAVE THEM! Their deeds would cause the deaths of millions, what is one death to avenge them? Not enough if you ask me!"

Quirinth armed her weapons, and yelled at him: "Why would we ask a question like that to someone who takes pleasure in killing?"

At this, Alex laughed menacingly, and said: "If that is what you three all think, then you can all be hypocrites in my mind. I've fought by your side for years, and I can say I've seen you all take pleasure in ending another's life in combat. And don't say it was in the line of duty, you still killed! What is the difference to a kill outside of a warzone, compared to one inside?"

Trion's voice boomed across the platform, as he stepped forwards while activating his weapons also: "ENOUGH! We came here to try to negotiate with a friend, to make peace and to help you explain your actions! We did not wish to have it come down to us to have to capture you!"

Alex looked at them all, saying in a deadly tone: "Are you sure? Because on the broadcast two days ago, I could swear I heard each of you say you would help, what was it again, 'bring me to justice'? I personally see that as a declaration that you wish to capture or kill me? In that case, I see there to be no reason to continue our pathetic bond of friendship. I have no need for you now! My purpose to do install true justice is all I need now!"

Sru'sky began to realize there may be no hope for him, and tried once more to reason with her brother: "Brother, please. What you are doing and have done is causing great pain among everyone. They all looked up to you, our parents are heartbroken by-"

"Save it Sru'sky! My affiliation with your family has always been under stress! Why, your father always appreciated you, his own daughter, over an outcast human. But now I have done what H'nuptec never thought I would do, surpass you! I now only align myself with my true family, the ones who died when I landed on Pandora 20 years ago!"

Sru'sky now saw no alternative, and as she whispered an apology, as she too armed herself. Alex noticed this, and he finished this pointless conversation:

"I don't need your pity. I am happy with my new path in life. I also vowed to succeed, or die trying in anything I do to continue on that path. And the way I see it now-"

Alex's mask slid into place, and a dark, imposing electronic voice sounded:

"You are blocking my path."

With a biomechanically enhanced jump, Alex flew at his three opponents like a feral beast, ready to kill at any opportunity.

As Alex jumped, the elevator doors opened, to reveal a squad of 6 advanced assassin robots, called to help Alex in his fight.

Alex had leapt towards Trion, keen to topple the largest foe first. Two robots leapt at each of them, their twin vibroblades and wrist rifles armed and ready. The Dark Hunter descended on the Silver Guardian, while his minions began to swarm the Savage Huntress and Warrior Princess. As the three groups met, sparks flew as weapons met armour and blades.

The final battle was on, one side or the other. Winner take all.

**Interstellar space**

Norstith sadly thought of the doomed apprentice he had left behind. Alex had become like a son to him, he had taught him so much, and seen him accomplish so much in such a short time span. But now the very path Norstith had set him on would be the death of him. There was no denying it.

Alex would fall in this battle.

He had realized it when he had seen the size of the fleet, when he had seen the declaration of a manhunt on Alex, when Alex himself declared he would not be taken prisoner. There was no chance of him succeeding, and no chance of him being imprisoned. He was a dead man already. His first, greatest and only apprentice would fall, as Alex was destined to die this day.

But his story would not end, his legacy would long endure.

As Norstith reminded himself of the steps he had taken long ago, before Alex completed his training, he remembered that for him, Alex's death would be the beginning of something much greater. Alex would die, but from the ashes of his fall, someone greater would rise up and replace him.

The moment Alex died, a new force would begin to develop, under Norstith's careful tutelage into one unseen by the galaxy yet. After all, Norstith thought:

Death was a beginning.

**Iegris, Hesvrel system**

Sru'sky staggered as the two assassins hammered away at her wrist blades, their own blades drawing closer and closer to hitting flesh. Thinking instinctively, she leapt back to gain some space. At 10 foot, she dwarfed the assassins, who were only 6 and a half foot. However, each assassin was aggressive, durable, armed to the teeth and relentless.

With the space she now had, she pulled out her heavy rifle, and launched a volley at one of the incoming assassins. It reacted blindingly quickly, dodging the volley of plasma bolts with a midair twist, while still coming at her. On the other side, the second assassin closed in, and made a leaping strike at her side.

Seeing the robot in her peripheral vision, Sru'sky whirled around to attack, and at last gained a fatal hit. The robot's leap continued, but Sru'sky's fully extended blade pierced its chest, destroying its power cell, effectively killing it. Its motion carried it to the end of her blade, on which it got stuck. From the other side, the remaining assassin scored a harsh kick to her neck, flinging her to the deck.

Twisting violently, she delivered a powerful kick to the robot's head, which sent the robot flying over the edge of the platform, to fall to its demise 400 metres below. Sru'sky then focused her attention on Quirinth, who was having trouble with her two assassin robots.

As Sru'sky rushed to her aide, Quirinth slashed at the abdomen plating of the nearest assassin, making deep scratches, and severing many wires. And yet, it still attacked, constantly trying to get her in its rifle's aim. Below her, the second assassin fired at her at random intervals, its legs now severed viciously at the waist. By the time Sru'sky arrived, the legless robot scored a glancing hit on Quirinth with a plasma bolt. With a cry of pain, she fell down, her armour having protected her body from the burning mostly. The robot never saw Sru'sky stomp on its head, killing it.

The other robot now hovered over Quirinth, but was preoccupied with killing Sru'sky, as it raised its grenade launcher to fire. As it launched a round, Quirinth severed one of its legs, sending it tumbling to the floor. This saved Sru'sky's life, as the grenade went soaring past her head, to explode about 20 metres away from them, near the platform edge. Once the robot was on the floor, Quirinth fired her built in rifle into its head, destroying its processor, killing it also.

After some of the most tense 10 minutes of their life, both of each of their robots were destroyed. Looking over, they saw Trion struggling with his quarry, despite having destroyed one of the assassins already. The second assassin was hacking and slashing viciously at the circuitry and wiring around Trion's neck and shoulders, While Alex was slashing at his ankles and firing his own plasma rifle in random bursts.

At the rate it was going, Trion would not last much longer. Panicking, Sru'sky rushed forwards to stop Alex, while Quirinth hung back to take out the last assassin form afar. Her helmet's HUD provided her with the targeting, and the shoulder mounted plasma blaster trained its sights on the assassin. As it locked on, the assassin caught sight of this, and began to jump off Trion's shoulders. But it was not fast enough.

As the assassin jumped off the silver mech's shoulder, Quirinth's long bust of plasma fire ripped into its legs, mangling them beyond use. The assassin collapsed hopelessly as it landed, using its arms to quickly drag itself towards Quirinth, looking to kill her. With no hesitation, she fired another burst into the robot's head, killing it.

As the last robot fell, Sru'sky tackled Alex hard, sending him flying away from them all, landing hard and rolling near to the edge of the platform. Recovering, Alex saw his support was all gone, and no weakening injuries had been sustained by any of the three.

_Time to change the play of the game._

Alex began to slowly step backwards towards the platform edge, sending looks of panic onto the threes' faces. As he stepped onto the platform edge, he halted, and spoke calmly:

"What is it that compels you to fight me? Hatred for my actions? A sense of betrayal for not disclosing my new life to you all? Well, before I make my next move, I have decided to expose a fragment of my life to you, during which I changed for the better!"

Trion, Quirinth and Sru'sky exchanged wary glances, confused as to his meaning. After a few seconds, they realized he was talking about the mission to Felren, where Alex was imprisoned for two months. He pressed on:

"I was not placed in prison for those two months. I was released, under the promise to fight for true justice, with a group who ignored cultural or national borders. For two months I trained with them, in conditions sometimes worse than prison. But all the while, I proved my dedication to their cause, to my own beliefs! Today, I see that by fighting me, you not only disagree with my beliefs, but strongly believe in your own!"

He then looked down at the ground, at the troops below. He then looked back at them:

"You brought these people here to see my end. But I shall provide a different show for them. I am going to break you all, I will make you suffer for your insolence. And believe me, I'll make it slow and enjoyable for myself."

As the sadistic grin passed Alex's face, obscured slightly beneath the visor, Sru'sky realized now that Alex was really gone. As he laughed triumphantly, he purposefully fell backwards off the platform, flipping through the air as he fell. After falling 100 metres, Alex switched on his turbofan pack, and stopped level with the central column of the building structure. He activated his grenade launcher, and fired some detonator activated grenades into the structure, shattering the windows as they went in.

Only to land next to lines of explosive barrels.

Satisfied with his trap, Alex flew up quickly, zooming past a shocked trio as he switched off his turbofans, and landing easily in the centre of the landing platform. He then retracted his weapons, and activated the switch on his wrist, and awaited the next move of his enemies.

Over to the other side, Trion scanned the building, seeking the grenades. He then realized the danger:

"You rigged the entire building to collapse! The explosives in the centre of the tower will be set off by the grenades!"

"That is correct! One move, and I blow this entire building, flattening the troops below. If you wish to kill me, you three could easily escape with Trion. But you will cost the lives of your men and women, hundreds of lives lost."

Sru'sly yelled at hr brother, tears spreading to her eyes: "Why are you putting them in danger?"

He yelled triumphantly: "To make the cost of killing me as great as possible! If you decide to kill me, the bombs will detonate as soon as my heartbeat stops. But, if you wound me, I shall still detonate the bombs. And, if you fail to harm me, I will kill you all with a well placed shot each, and I shall detonate the building nevertheless. So you have a choice: All of you die, or all but you three die? Make your choice."

He placed a finger menacingly over the button.

At the other side of the platform, Sru'sky wrestled with her mind. She wished to save Alex, but he had found a way to kill all of the men below what ever happened. If she did nothing, she would also die, along with Trion and Quirinth.

It was obvious now, better salvage three lives from this, than no lives at all.

The three drew weapons, while Quirinth took a third option. She shot at Alex, her shot raining towards Ales's arm. The plasma shot destroyed the detonator device, and Alex's arms suffered severe burns from the shot. Screaming in pain, Alex collapsed, clutching his burnt arm. Quirinth then shot Alex in the left shoulder, adding to the recent burns already there. Not being able to bear any more pain, Alex fell onto his back.

Away from them, Trion transformed and took off, joining with the nearby fighter frame within 10 seconds. He then quickly pulled up at the platform, where Sru'sky jumped into the cockpit, and held on as Trion went over to pick up Qurinth.

Beneath them, despite Alex's slight miscalculation in how events would progress, he pulled out a second detonator, and held it up painfully for Quirinth to see. Savouring her horror and anger, he stabbed his finger down on the button.

200 metres below, the grenade detonated, and the nearby explosives containers exploded in a series, destroying the supports of the building. For a few brief moments, the structure hung in freestanding suspension, until it began to lean towards the avenue in front of it. This was where the UIP force was congregated. In panic, they began to flee to the side. At the rate they were going though, half of them were going to certainly die from the impact of the 200 metre building section collapsing onto them.

Quirinth looked on at her former friend, trying to see if there was still a shred of the old Alex left. However, there was none. In his place, a maniacally laughing, sadistic monster lay on the platform, as he felt the building begin to topple. Overcome by rage, Quirinth kicked the Dark Hunter in the face, hard enough to shatter his helmet and visor, fully exposing his now bloody and bruised face. He then screamed at her: "You lose!"

Quirinth then said simply: "No, you lose. I'll make you suffer for what you did."

She ripped one of the wrist blades from her armour, raised it above her head, and plunged it downwards.

A cry of agonizing pain echoed through the sounds of the crumbling building.

Looking at his right shoulder, the unburnt one, Alex saw that Quirinth had stabbed her blade straight through his shoulder, the plasma coating slowly burning away at the flesh surrounding it. If he moved, he felt agonizing pain, but if he was stationary, he felt agonizing pain.

Quirinth had trapped him on the platform, pinned him to the destruction he had caused. He looked over with his bloodshot eyes, as Quirinth quickly climbed aboard Trion's fighter frame. She and Sru'sky looked at him with immense hatred and sadness respectively. As he lay there, destined for a brutal and undeserved death, he bellowed at the craft as it took off: "YOU MONSTERS!"

Feeling the building beginning to accelerate its fall, Alex felt the burning in his right shoulder increase. He saw the blade working its way up to the top of his shoulder. He gained a glimmer of hope, as he may be able to escape when the blade fully burnt through his shoulder, freeing him. Bearing the pain, he decided to speed things up. H grabbed the platform below him, and quickly dragged his body down the increasing slope. With a sound of burning flesh, and a scram that made Alex's lungs ache, he was free.

As he got up, he saw that he was 5 seconds from death, the building now fast approaching the ground. He mentally commanded the turbofan pack t switch on. It didn't. With horror, he realized he had forgotten that Quirinth had destroyed his helmet, and his only means of controlling his flight. He had been outdone by Quirinth, he was going to die.

As the ground neared, he remembered his vow, to do what is right, to preserve righteousness, even if it means breaking laws, His training, his master Norstith, he had failed. He was a dead man.

As the he entered the cloud of dust, death a second away, Alex braced himself for the shock of death. He stared at the ground, prepared to go down standing firm. As he came nearer to his end, his body seemed to fail him, as he uncontrollably blacked out less than a second before he hit the ground. He had not even hit the ground, and yet now Alex felt as if he had been ripped from his body. He was flying through blackness, going, going, going on forever.

Gone.

**1 hour later**

The collapsing skyscraper was now being searched by the UIP recovery units, brought within the fleet. They searched through the rubble for survivors and bodies. 6 AMP suits had been lost in the building's fall onto them, along with 70 soldiers. 20 more were wounded in the collapse. But the most inspiring find was near where the topmost platform had been.

Excavated from the rubble, battered, broken, bloody, beaten, was the body of a brown haired, viciously scarred man. On his left cheek was a deep scar of a nearly 6 year old wound. His left shoulder and arm bore fire and plasma burns, and his right shoulder was ripped open from the centre upwards, by a plasma blade.

On his face, a look of relaxed finality was forever plastered on his face. As a giant blue hand cupped the scarred face, it was a final confirmation.

Alex had been killed.

Above the body of their former friend, Quirinth remembered how he had left him to die this way, regretting her vicious actions. She knew no one deserved what he got in the end. The Savage Huntress mourned her former rival and best friend.

Trion remembered the good times he had had with him, of how he would tease him for his size, but remained loyal to him, as Trion did so to him initially. The Silver Guardian became silent in memory of a precious ally and companion.

Sru'sky cupped his face gently, teas running down her face. She remembered growing up with him, laughing with him, comforting him as he did to her also. His determination and courage set him apart. He was corrupted, but he also revealed the evils within themselves as they sought to end him. The Warrior Princess wept for her brother.

All the while, the Dark Hunter rested, his work done here, his legacy now begun.

**1 week later, Teranthos Nebula.**

Norstith cradled the bulky data device in his hands, as if it were a baby. He carried it through the halls, towards the laboratory.

His pupil was dead, but the boy's tragedy would give rise to a legend.

So guys, that's the end of my first fanfiction. What do you think? I'm planning two sequals. One's plot is well established, the other is still in the later stages of plot development.


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